Even crocodiles feel El Niño’s heat
NORTH COTABATO – Rising temperatures and continued lowering of water levels have caused large crocodiles at the Liguasan Delta to swim to swampy areas, endangering the lives of reptiles and residents nearby.
Veterinarian Cayetano Pomares said he and veterinary medicine professors at the University of Southern Mindanao ( USM) are convinced that the continuing reduction in water levels at the Liguasan Delta due to the dry spell since November caused the crocodiles to swim downstream
to swampy areas in Barangay Kuyapon.
“Rising temperatures in waters upstream must have also been causing so much discomfort to these creatures,” he explained.
Last Wednesday, Mamangkas Mamatong found a crocodile eight feet ( 2.4 meters) long in a marsh in Kabacan, North Cotabato. He was harvesting tilapia, but his fishing net caught the huge crocodile instead.
“I was to harvest tilapias in my small fish pen and was stunned to see a big crocodile inside. I was so scared and ran away shouting for help. I almost lost consciousness,” he said in Filipino.
Mamatong, a resident of Barangay Kuyapon in Kabacan, sought the assistance of his friends to capture the reptile.
They brought the crocodile to Mamatong’s home. For two days, the creature drew spectators from around Kabacan, a booming agricultural town home to Muslims and Christians.
Mamatong decided to turn over the crocodile last Thursday to the officials of USM.
“I learned it was illegal to keep this kind of reptile without permission from the government so I turned it over to authorities,” he explained.
The crocodile was later brought to the North Cotabato provincial capitol in Kidapawan City, more than 20 kilometers north of Kabacan.
Veterinarians will return the crocodile to the Liguasan Delta.
Pomares said the reptile would be released after its full recovery from injuries caused by the crude harnesses that residents used to capture the creature.