After
several hours of land travel from Davao City to Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, Lolong,
the largest saltwater crocodile in the world at 20 feet and 3 inches is now
home.
The
Guinness Book of World Records declared Lolong the world’s largest crocodile in
captivity after it was measured by Dr. Adam Britton of the National Geographic
in May 2012.
People
from the local government of Bunawan pulled out Lolong from the Davao Crocodile
Park at 2 PM Monday. However, those who were instructed to fetch the
crocodile’s preserved body have no idea about the crocodile’s fate as they were
just told to get Lolong from Davao and bring it back to Agusan.
“We
have no idea about the LGUs plan for Lolong,” Davao Crocodile Park operations
manager Sergio A. Acquiatan said. He added they are also not part of the
arrangement between the Bunawan local government and the national museum.
CrocodilePark President Philip S. Dizon, who has previously urged the Bunawan Ecopark
officials to get Lolong back since the crocodile needs a more modern
preservation method, said the world’s largest crocodile will soon be sent to
the National Museum to undergo the process of Taxidermy.
Taxidermy
is the process of preserving and preparing the skins of animals especially
vertebrates for stuffing. Lolong’s taxidermy specimen will be displayed at the
National Museum but will be brought back to Bunawan later on, Mr. Dizon said.
Lolong,
a certified celebrity at the Bunawan Ecopark and Wildlife Reservation Center
where it was kept after it was caught in a local creek on September 3, 2011,
was brought to the park in February this year after it died from pneumonia and
cardiac arrest. 