Philippines urged to free giant crocodile

Sep 10, 2011
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.


The monster 21-foot (6.4-metre) male 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 .

"(The government) should do the compassionate thing and order this crocodile to be returned to his , 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.


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.


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User comments : 19

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3 / 5 (10) Sep 10, 2011
PITA would rather see people die than animals, which makes them an enemy of humanity. The fact this croc is allowed to live in captivity is a concession in my book, one that seems reasonable to make.
2.2 / 5 (17) Sep 10, 2011
It's PETA, and they had nothing to do with it. So they should free the croc. And it's suspected (but not proven) to have attacked people. They're locking it away on suspicion alone. Why should they be able to take something that large out of its natural habitat and place it in a tiny cage? I suspect it'll probably die, and then it won't be much of a tourist attraction to anyone.
2 / 5 (12) Sep 10, 2011
Since when do animals have the same rights as humans? They simply don't! Nor could they. Now go out and have a BigMac or a croc-burger and show those lower species who's boss! :)
2.2 / 5 (13) Sep 10, 2011
Animal rights is an oxymoron.

Dang idjits.
1 / 5 (4) Sep 10, 2011
Soylent Green anyone?
1.5 / 5 (8) Sep 10, 2011
Humans are just animal species whose normal adult specimens happen to be very intelligent. He who does not value animal life has little reason to value human life, too.
2.3 / 5 (12) Sep 10, 2011
"removing from the wild a huge reptile suspected of attacking humans was the correct thing to do."
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.
1.8 / 5 (5) Sep 11, 2011
If humans are incapable of caring for nature then there are too many humans on the planet. If so, then feed the excess to alegator. i.e. those who can not appreicate nature.
3.7 / 5 (3) Sep 11, 2011
hugh-monz looted much of the crocodile's natural prey, yet prehistoric beast still got huge.

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.
2.7 / 5 (7) Sep 11, 2011
PETA redefining stupid and ignorant for the modern world.

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.
1 / 5 (4) Sep 11, 2011
Just think of all the baby crocodiles that will be saved. Crocodiles eat their young.
1 / 5 (4) Sep 11, 2011

Oops, not correct.
1 / 5 (5) Sep 11, 2011
There's a difference between a Crocodile and Alligator.. Just thought I'd point that out.
2.3 / 5 (3) Sep 12, 2011
Killing it, eating the meat and either stuffing it or using the skin for boots would really help the locals." - RyggTard

Ya, I've been told by your fellow Libertarians that the only good animal is a dead animal.
1 / 5 (4) Sep 12, 2011
Right. The tourist exhibit idea is probably less practical.

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.

2.5 / 5 (2) Sep 13, 2011
Animals that eat us don't have the right to continue to do so...

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?
2.3 / 5 (3) Sep 13, 2011
@Shane Stevens

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 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 more wars with nuclear weapons irradiating everything.

We are weak indeed.
2.7 / 5 (3) Sep 13, 2011
@Shane Stevens

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 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. =)
1 / 5 (1) Sep 13, 2011
I agree with the comment that PETA cares more about animals than humans. In fact their legislative pressures have sentenced humans to jail time for mistreating a snake. I understand that punishments for animal mistreatment have to be put in place, but the means and attitude that these people take towards humanity is extreme and sickening.

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...

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