A huge crocodile has been captured and relocated, alive and with-out harm, in Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in the Philippines. At 21 feet long, he is the biggest crocodile ever caught alive. Weighing in at over a ton, the crocodile was snared near Bunawan Township after a three week hunt, during which bait was taken and the steel cable traps destroyed. It took over 100 people to participate in the operation of moving the crocodile to a clearing where it was then transported, via crane, to a temporary enclosure.
Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde plans to create an eco-tourism park with the huge crocodile as the star. Film shows the unharmed crocodile being released into a pool, and it is currently being kept away from the public to reduce stress. The relocation shouts wonders for Crocodiles in the Philippines, who up until now were often persecuted, and regularly killed, with it illustrating that attitudes to crocodiles are changing. No-one wants to kill the beasts any more, with recent law changes stating that killing a crocodile in the Philippines carries a heavy prison sentence, and attitudes leaning more towards conservation, and eco-tourism in the preservation of the reptiles in eco-parks.
The crocodile will provide an excellent educational and tourist attraction, and may prove to be a valuable breeding animal if provided with females. With a reproduction and re-introduction program a success, the hatchlings can be cared for until large enough, and then released in to the wild, helping to boost the declined numbers in the wild due to poaching and unlawful killings.
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