Philippines urged to free giant crocodile
In this photo taken on September 4, villagers examine the 21-foot (6.4 m) saltwater crocodile caught in the town of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur province on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Animal rights group PETA has urged the Philippines to free what is thought to be the world's largest crocodile in captivity, even though it allegedly killed two people.
An animal rights group urged the Philippines to free what is thought to be the world's largest crocodile in captivity, even though it allegedly killed two people.
The monster 21-foot (6.4-metre) male saltwater crocodile was placed in a penned pond after it was caught in a remote southern creek on September 3, with officials planning to use it as a tourist attraction once it adapts to its cage.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals senior Asia-Pacific campaigner Ashley Fruno on Saturday said that despite suspicion it is a man-eater, the reptile was better off being returned to the wild, away from human settlements.
"(The government) should do the compassionate thing and order this crocodile to be returned to his natural habitat, as taking him away to be locked up in an animal prison is just plain wrong," she wrote to AFP.
Penned animals are prone to psychotic behaviour and its immense size and power could prove dangerous to visitors and those caring for it, she warned.
"While even those zoos with the best intentions can never replicate the natural environment of animals, how do they expect to come remotely close with a crocodile roughly two or three times the size of a regular adult?"
The 1,075-kilogramme (2,370-pound) beast is suspected of eating a local man who went missing in July in the southern town of Bunawan, and of killing a 12-year-old girl whose head was bitten off in 2009.
Rollie Sumiller, who led the team that trapped the animal, earlier told AFP removing from the wild a huge reptile suspected of attacking humans was the correct thing to do.
He could not be reached for comment Saturday.
The Philippine specimen is bigger than the previous largest captive saltwater crocodile, which the Guinness World Records website lists as a 5.48-metre (18-foot) male that lives at an Australian nature park.
Press reports say the former had not eaten anything for a week.
In the wild the species is known to survive without food for months after a meal.
(c) 2011 AFP
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Sep 10, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (10)
Sep 10, 2011
Rank: 2.8 / 5 (11)
Sep 10, 2011
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (9)
Sep 10, 2011
Rank: 3.3 / 5 (7)
Dang idjits.
Sep 10, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Sep 10, 2011
Rank: 1.8 / 5 (5)
Sep 10, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (8)
Killing it, eating the meat and either stuffing it or using the skin for boots would really help the locals.
Animal control in the USA kill dogs that attack people.
Sep 11, 2011
Rank: 1.8 / 5 (5)
Sep 11, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
I say boo hoo crocodile teared activists, many so ignorant, to the point that they have no regard for the lives of people living in Third World countries.
crocodiles have had their run for millions of years, if they vanish it is the natural order of things...plenty of other garbage disposal creatures that clean rivers & oceans of carcasses & weak animals.
Sep 11, 2011
Rank: 4 / 5 (4)
Psychotic behavior requires a brain developed enough to be psychotic.
Alligators may be smart reptiles, but they lack that level of intelligence.
The notion an alligator lusts for freedom is as absurd.
Give the alligator safety, food and shelter and it will be far happier than in the wild, because that is what it is ALWAYS in search of in the wild.
Wild animals LOVE living around people. It's people in the West who think otherwise.
Even stupider is the notion that there are places in the Philippines far away from human settlement.
Before making any comment the person should have been asked whether she knows where the country is, it's population Etc.
Finally a 21ft. gator is capable of finding its way back to the same location from tremendous distances. So relocation won't work.
Sep 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Sep 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Oops, not correct.
Sep 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Sep 12, 2011
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (3)
Ya, I've been told by your fellow Libertarians that the only good animal is a dead animal.
Sep 12, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
A decent pair of crocodile boots costs upwards of $1,200. Boots from this certified "celebrity" (aka killer) croc are going to be worth much more. Plus, the meat is valuable too. This one croc could pay for a school, stock it with supplies, and pay some teacher salaries.
Sep 13, 2011
Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
Find me one animal that can cure/treat a disease outside of being an experimental test subject.
Alligators/Crocs have been around since the dinos, and we weren't. Yet somehow in that time, our "superbrains" somehow out evolved every other animal on the planet, in such a capacity that we can trap one that is 21 ft long (3 Shaquille Oneals)...
Off subject, can somebody PM ME, and logically explain how our brains are so far superior to every animal on the planet???
PEOPLE need to stop calling Humans animals... We aren't, get over it. What other animal can go out and hunt down any other animal it sees fit, regardless of how big/powerful it is??? You won't find a deer hunting a bear, but a human could kill both by himself, despite the shear physical dominance. So I'm expected to believe over the last 100,000 years humans have simply "out evolved" every beast who still sleeps in the same filthy habitats they did eons ago?
Sep 13, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Sorry..but your not going re-classify what is or is not an animal. Science has already done that thank you very much.
Many of the things you mentioned were incorrect. We may TRY to hunt down anything we want..but many have died trying to hunt down a Lion, Hippo, or Tiger. Furthermore..we are in fact one of the weakest animals in existence..as we cannot hunt down many other animals without weapons. We can't even catch fish without a hook or net..yet Dolphins and Sharks don't have this problem.
And it is because we have the potential to destroy our habitat and those of other species that we are indeed the most destructive and dangerous animal on the planet -hardly anything to be proud of. Of all animal species on the planet Earth..our eradication would be one of the most welcome and most healing for this planet. No more toxic chemicals from our chem plants polluting the air, dirt and ocean..no more wars with nuclear weapons irradiating everything.
We are weak indeed.
Sep 13, 2011
Rank: 3.5 / 5 (2)
One more thing. Roaches have outlived the dinosaurs and pretty much everything else that has ever existed on this planet. No matter how many of them we kill..they keep coming back in droves stronger than ever and more immune to our poisons. Should we all bow before the mighty roach?
And my vote for strongest animal on this planet is for the Virus. It truly can kill most animal species..it doesn't need a weapon to do so..and it is a marvel at simplicity and being able to do it's job very well. It has already killed millions of us no matter what we do to stop it and mutates at will when faced with danger.
In the end..the mighty Virus may be earth's last hope for a brighter, healthier and better future..once it has eradicated a plague called Man from it's surface.
And just think how happy the roaches will be. =)
Sep 13, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
If they are so concerned with animal rights, they should just live in nature; have one of their daughters decapitated, and then they can kill the reptile for it's dangerous predisposition as a natural predator of humans. In some states we kill people for killing other humans. We kill dogs for bitting people. Yet this man-eating, peanut-sized brained monster is allowed to live, and potentially kill more villagers. PSSSS...