PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Residents of an island barangay in northern Palawan town are seeking help from wildlife experts with reported sighting of an estuarine crocodile.
“Many residents reported that they see it almost on a daily basis,” said Batas Barangay Councilor Angelito Abrina Thursday.
Batas is an island barangay in the municipality of Taytay and located 761.5 kilometers north of the capital.
Abrina said a cousin and his siblings went to the river last week to look for the crocodile and they were able to confirm its presence.
Wildlife specialist Levita Lagrada of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff (PCSDS) said that habitat loss through the destruction of mangroves for charcoal-making or house-building is among the contributing factors of the occurrence of crocodile sightings.
“A quality habitat for this creature should not be lower than 10 kilometers length of river, but because of increase in human activities of villages and communities along the rivers and coastal areas, the suitable habitat for this species has continued to reduce,” she added.
Abrina, meanwhile, suspects that the charcoal-making inside the mangrove-fringed river in Batas has caused the crocodile sightings. “The last time we went there we chanced upon charcoal furnaces and destroyed them,” the barangay councilor said.
Lagrada said the crocodiles seen within the one-kilometer range from the general public or the barangay proper suggest that they might likely be attracted to live food prey, like livestock and other domestic animals.
So far, there’s no crocodile attack reported in the barangay, except domestic dogs reported missing after tagging along to the river with some of the residents, Abrina said.
Meanwhile, Palawan Wildlife Refuge and Rescue Center (PWRCC) Wildlife Section chief Salvador Guion has instructed the barangay officials to write a letter to PCSD, which implements the Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act in Palawan.
“We advise them to write a letter so we can schedule an assessment in the area and also conduct information drive with the community,” he said.
Crocodile sightings have also been reported in the towns of Bataraza, Rizal, and Balabac in southern Palawan. (Keith Anthony Fabro/PNA)
