‘Isabela,’ the croc, to be freed in wilds
By TJ Burgonio
Inquirer
Last updated 00:09am (Mla time) 08/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- For several years, a group of conservationists has been quietly taking on the job of protecting a small population of threatened Philippine crocodiles in the wilds of Isabela.
On Tuesday, after seven years, the Mabuwaya Foundation Inc. will be releasing an adult female crocodile, named “Isabela,” to a lake in San Mariano town.
Isabela is possibly one of the few remaining members of the rare crocodile species Crocodylus mindorensis.
“This is a very special animal. It’s the most threatened in the entire planet. It’s the most in need of conservation action. And it’s only found here,” Jan van der Ploeg, team leader of the CROC, said in a phone interview.
CROC stands for Crocodile Rehabilitation Observance and Conservation, a joint initiative of the Mabuwaya Foundation, the local government of San Mariano and the Isabela State University (ISU).
“She’s a national treasure of the Philippines,” he added, explaining the special interest they had taken in the crocodile.
By releasing it to its natural habitat, the foundation hopes that it will find a mate, build a nest, reproduce -- and save the species from extinction.
The project is being implemented under the umbrella of the Cagayan Valley Program on Environment and Development (CVPED), a joint research and education program of ISU and Leiden University.
Once widely distributed around the country, crocodiles have been decimated by hunting, killing and habitat destruction, like illegal logging and dynamite fishing.
Isabela’s species was thought to be extinct in northern Luzon, until a farmer caught her in Barangay Cataguing, here in San Mariano in 1999.
A freshwater crocodilian, it is a harmless species that does not attack humans unless provoked.
“It’s a small crocodile and it does not pose a threat to humans, unlike the potentially dangerous Crocodylus porosus, which is found everywhere in the Philippines,” Van Der Ploeg said.
Isabela was turned over to the staff of Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park Conservation Project in the village of San Jose and reared in a temporary holding pen until she grew to 1.6 meters long.
There are an estimated 50 Philippine crocodiles breeding in wetlands throughout the province. Others can be found in Abra, Apayao and marshes in Mindanao, according to Van Der Ploeg.
|
