Biggest number of crocodiles in PH

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The Balabac Island Group has been able to maintain the record of having the biggest number of crocodiles in the entire country, according to the Crocodylus Porosus Philippines Inc. (CPPI).

CPPI Program Director, and marine biologist Rainier Manalo said the Balabac Island Group has the highest number of crocodiles in the country when compared to the southern mainland Palawan based on its 2018 survey in the southern part of the province.

“[Barangays of] Bugsuk, Ramos, and Balabac Islands are the areas with the highest number of crocodiles. More than half or 54 percent of this wild population is present in the Island of Bugsuk,” he said.

Manalo said that they recorded declines in the population of crocodiles in the early ‘40s to late ‘80s, as these animals were heavily hunted for their skin. As many as 2,000 crocodiles were being hunted in just a few months in the past, or from three to four crocodiles a day.

Data from ‘80s and ‘90s were based on the 1992 acquisition records of the Crocodile Farming Institute (CFI) in Palawan, with the crocodiles being acquired from the wild population in Palawan and Mindanao.

Manalo said that from 2016 to 2019, CPPI surveyed 19 rivers in the southern Palawan and obtained a corrected average density of 0.95 non-hatchlings/ km.

“We recorded an estimated wild crocodile population of 519 non-hatchlings in 2019. Non-hatchlings kasi ibig sabihin ay pwede na sila lumaban sa ibang predator or hindi na sila prone sa environmental stress. Ang scientific count kasi sa kanila ay one year na sila [mula noong pinanganak] pero pwede naman bilangin ang iba kasi pwede pa rin naman sila mamatay,” Manalo said. (Aira Genera Magdayao)