Heat forcing crocodiles in Liguasan Marsh to look for cooler places

The intense heat has caused crocodiles at the Liguasan Marsh to look for cooler places, at times even in areas where humans live.

According to Bernadette Reyes report on “24 Oras” on Monday, an eight-foot crocodile was captured by a farmer in Barangay Cuyapon in Kabacan town on Sunday.

The crocodile was able to get inside the farmer’s fish cage. Locals said that the marsh has been drying up.

The farmer was about to sell the crocodile but he was stopped after he was promised six sacks of rice.

“[With] the increase of the temperature they have look for more cooler place and the food that they have been eating is affected by the temperature,” said Dr. Cayetano Pomanes, project head of the Philippine Crocodile Rescue and Breeding Center at the University of Southern Mindanao

The crocodile who has since been named Silangan has been transferred to the Crocodile Rescue and Breeding Center in Kidapawan City.

Silangan belongs to the endangered Crocodylus mindorensis species. —Trisha Macas/NB, GMA News