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Agusan del Sur crocodile traumatized, won't eat four days after capture


Lolong the 21-ft saltwater crocodile is still traumatized and refuses to eat four days after his capture, as he tries to get used to a new pen built for him in a wildlife reserve by the local government of Bunawan, Agusan Del Sur. The crocodile shuns the chicken-meat kept ready and available around the man-made pond where he now swims, as visitors to the park have been kept in limited numbers upon recommendation of experts to allow the reptile to rest and recuperate. Crocodile caretaker Loloy Aguillon told GMA reporter Jiggy Manicad on GMA news program “24 Oras" that crocodiles can subsist after their last feeding for two whole weeks so there is yet nothing to worry about.
Need for a larger enclosure Bunawan Mayor Cox Elorde emphasized that Lolong is not the only attraction in his town’s wildlife park because the Agusan marsh is home to many diverse species such as the Bunawan snails which are as large as a man’s fist. But Elorde lamented that the wildlife park is in dire need of funds for the upkeep of the animals’ cages, pens, and pools, and other facilities. He told Manicad that they want to enlarge Lolong’s present enclosure. “Sana matulungan ninyo kami na mabigyan ng magandang tahanan si Lolong at saka maprotektahan din ‘yung kasama ni Lolong sa marshland namin," said Elorde. The mayor even showed Manicad the steel-wire snare and narrated how the crocodile hunters had to improvise making the trap after Lolong destroyed the previous ones they had laid out to catch him. Elorde also told GMA News that although crocodile hunters are still stalking a crocodile possibly even larger than Lolong, the snares and traps they had earlier laid out had to be temporarily removed because they expect the other crocodile to have gone further into the marsh after the commotion caused by Lolong’s capture. — Marlon Anthony Tonson/VS, GMA News

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