In a human-crocodile conflict, environment suffers—experts
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 25 Sept)—A fisherman on a night hunt for mud crabs along the marshy shorelines in Barangay Kawas, Alabel town in Sarangani province hacked a creature, suspecting it as a large monitor lizard.
The fisherman immediately brought home the reptile. In the kitchen, he noticed something odd. It was not a monitor lizard that he killed, but a juvenile crocodile, prompting him to refer it to their village leader.
The incident happened a decade ago, specifically early evening of Sept. 21, 2014, according to records of the Environment Protection and Conservation Center (ECPC) in Alabel town.
The following day, the dead reptile, which bore two hack wounds to the head, was brought to the ECPC, where biologists confirmed it was a juvenile saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
A Kawas resident said the crocodile was caught using a “lit-ag” (trap), then hacked twice to the head.
The crocodile’s remains, already preserved, have since been on display at the Sarangani Wildlife Museum at the ECPC, a testament that saltwater crocodiles have been swimming the waters of Sarangani Bay.
Two years earlier before the Kawas crocodile-hacking incident, residents also found the remains of a saltwater crocodile along a creek in Malok, Labangal, General Santos City.
Roy Mejorada, of the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape (SBPS), said it was in July 2012 when residents stumbled on a dead crocodile along Malok Creek, a tributary of Sarangani Bay.
In these human-crocodile encounters, both reptiles ended up lifeless, possibly borne by lack of proper understanding and fear of crocodiles by many people, Mejorada said.
Negative mindset
“That usual mindset na nangangagat kasi (animals in the wild bite),” remarked Marvin Sarmiento, a biologist with the Crocodylus Porosus Philippines Inc. (CPPI). CPPI is a group of six crocodile farms in the country advocating crocodile conservation.
Wildlife conservation efforts actually benefit people and the environment, Sarmiento pointed out. People usually see conservation efforts as giving more preference to wildlife than human life, which actually is not the case, he said.
“We are foremost for the protection of human life,” the CPPI field biologist said in trying to correct impressions by locals that his group is in Sarangani to shield from human attacks the crocodile that was sighted by a fisherman on Aug. 27, who along with barangay officials planned on capturing it.
In earlier media pronouncements, Cirilo Lagnason Jr., the area superintendent of SBPS, said the Aug. 27 video by a fisherman of a saltwater crocodile is the first documented sighting of the said species in Sarangani Bay.
A decade-old recommendation
But, as early as 10 years ago, the Mabuwaya Foundation, which helped identify the crocodile killed in Kawas, said “the presence of a juvenile saltwater crocodile at the bay indicates that there could be adult species in the area.”
In her Sept. 22, 2014 Facebook post about the crocodile killed in Kawas, environment planner and university professor Carilyn Martin said Mabuwaya recommended the conduct of research and information-education campaigns among residents “to address speculations.”
Incidentally, in a media forum here on Sept. 22, 10 years after Martin’s social media post, government officials announced they will assess the situation and conduct information education among residents in coastal villages about the confirmed presence of saltwater crocodiles in the bay.
Mejorada said since Sept. 19, they checked for possible natural habitats of crocodiles along the mangrove-laden coastlines of the bay. “There are possible habitats but these small spots cannot support a crocodile population,” he pointed out.
The crocodile sightings since Aug. 27 sent many coastal residents in Purok Minanga in Barangay Buayan here and in Lun Padidu, Malapatan town worrying for their safety. Fisherman Carlo Cabradilla said for days his fellow fishers avoided the sea, fearing a crocodile attack.
With their livelihood at stake, the group of fishers in Purok Minanga agreed and called a challenge by their village chief, Rogelio Solis, who dared them to band together and swim out to sea to capture the crocodile.
Felix Alicer, executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 12, prevailed upon the group, telling them that they are risking their lives in what they plan to do.
He said there are experts who will help determine the needed course of action to be taken.
Coexistence as an option
“We need to also determine if there is human-crocodile conflict that affects livelihood, then we need to decide on whether to relocate or resort to adaptation, meaning humans and crocodile to co-exist in the place,” the DENR official said.
Sarmiento, whose four-man CPPI team joined DENR officials in investigating the presence of crocodiles in Sarangani, said the bay has an excellent ecosystem, making it attractive for marine wildlife to thrive.
The wildlife expert said they would need a longer time to make an assessment on what needs to be done, even as he pointed out that the presence of a crocodile in an area contributes to the well-being of the ecosystem and residents can be educated about co-existence, which is being done in other places.
Having rational ability, Sarmiento said, humans must allow themselves to better understand how important wildlife is and the entire ecosystem to human existence.
“Let us all kill ignorance and irrational fear for wildlife so that we can shift human-crocodile conflict to human-crocodile coexistence,” he said. (Rommel G. Rebollido / MindaNews)
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