I never knew that crocodiles existed in the Philippines until I encountered many of them in the Crocodile Conservation Facility where I once worked. From then on, I also realized that crocodiles can still be found in the estuarine regions of Palawan and even encountered some of them in the wild.

Dangerous Animals

The saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) are notable reptiles as they could even outwit humans and prey on them. I narrated a story about a fisherman who was attacked by a crocodile in my previous post. Crocodiles can move so fast from the water to land. The fisherman was attacked that way.

Crocodiles, however, cannot sustain long runs. They tire easily. Imagine harassing a house lizard. It would suddenly spurt then stop. Crocodiles behave the same way. This is due to a sudden build up of lactic acid in their bodies that cause them to tire. If disturbance is sustained, the crocodile can die of something like a high blood pressure as in humans. They need rest to remove the lactic acid in their muscles. 

A Crocodile’s Bite

Even at a very young age, a crocodile can bite and injure a finger. The picture below shows that the crocodiles teeth are already well developed upon hatching. 

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In the crocodile conservation facility, once your finger is bitten, it is a no no to pull it off quickly. The wound will worsen as the crocodile’s teeth have very sharp edges at both sides. It could easily slice paper. The idea is just to tap on its nose then wait for it to release its bite on the finger. Minimal damage will be sustained. Crocodile’s can grow up to 50 sets of teeth in its lifetime.

In the case of the bigger ones, of course the best way is to keep distance. I once walked along the pathways between crocodile pens on a stormy day. Suddenly, there was a sudden clap just a few feet from me. I realized that a three meter crocodile has escaped from the containing pen and snapped almost at my legs. I ran and sought the help of our staff to restrain the escapee. I had been wary since of things along my way.

Once clamped, a crocodile would wiggle at its prey to cut it to pieces. The force of biting is equivalent to tons of force because of its big, well developed, masseter muscle. The power of jaw opening, however, is much weaker. Allegedly, early hunters could catch crocodiles with their bare hands, clamping on the upper and lower jaws. 

How Crocodiles are Detected

Crocodiles can be detected in rivers at night using a spotlight. Its tell-tale red eyes can easily be spotted along the river. They can be approached easily by focusing the light on their eyes. It’s as if they are blinded. I remembered my fellow trainee in Darwin, Australia who just grabbed a meter or so juvenile along the Adelaide River while I kept the spotlight on its eyes. We tied the snout and measured it then released. Unfortunately, he forgot to untie the string and we wondered what happened to it. Obviously, crocodiles cannot survive with their mouths kept closed.

The surveys conducted in some rivers noted to harbor crocodiles in Palawan yielded very few results. My companions and I would stay the whole night traversing the river of Taritien in Narra, Palawan and would see maybe one or two at times. We would start off launching our speedboat at about 6:00 pm from the river’s mouth, go upstream then return late at night at about midnight. We did this for more than a year but we just had very few sightings. 

This was way back in the 1990s. Since then, I seldom heard cases of crocodile sightings by any local in their mangrove habitats in Palawan. Probably, they’re gone or may have become so very shy that they would never give any indication that they still exist. This may be the reason why they have survived for millions of years. They avoided meddling in human affairs and make themselves less visible as much as possible. Crocodiles can detect slightest movement and its eyesight is so sharp that it could see even in murky waters or even detect somebody behind a pinhole.  

Feeding Behavior

Normally, crocodiles would feed on prey proportionate to their size. A large crocodile usually preys on monkeys which inhabit the mangrove areas. This may be the reason why children are often prey to these animals. Bigger prey, like adult humans are preyed upon, most likely not as a normal prey but most likely as defensive behavior towards intruders in their habitat. I recalled watching a young female crocodile on the edge of the water while I approach its nest to make some temperature readings. It suddenly sprang and chased me while I ran for life towards a ladder to escape its ire. Crocodiles are unpredictable. 

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Crocodiles are not voracious as they may seem to be because of their large mouth. In fact, in the crocodile conservation facility, a three meter crocodile can live on just about a kilo of meat in a week. They can have very slow heartbeat of one per minute such that they conserve energy and consume only very little. 

Normally, the crocodiles stomach contains some pebbles or small stones. According to experts, these aid the grinding of food but for some they thought that this would probably be accidental ingestion. Upon examination of the stomach contents of the captured crocodile that victimized a fisherman, I found human hair and stones but no bones. Bones are easily digested by the crocodile’s stomach as it is very acidic. It could even digest steel. 

Role of Crocodiles in the Environment

A German study in the Amazon revealed that the population of crocodiles are directly related to the volume of fishery yield. In one particular location where the number of crocodiles were decimated, the scientists noted a sharp decline in the fishery industry. They discovered that crocodiles are very important in keeping the rivers high with nitrogen or important nutrients to sustain algal growth. Increased algal growth means increased food for fishes that will stimulate them to reproduce and increase their number. 

Crocodiles are also excellent in controlling the number of some species of animals like the hippopotamus. In one location in Africa, the elimination of crocodiles in the ecosystem resulted to an increased number of hippopotamuses. The result is devastating as hippopotamuses trampled on the marshlands and nearby habitats causing ecological imbalance. 

Conservation Action

Despite fear of crocodile encounter and other things associated with crocodiles like them portrayed as greedy politicians because of their large mouth in some caricatures, crocodiles are one of the valuable natural resources that humans must preserve. Their conservation may determine the availability and sustainability of food supply as fishes, among other things. It is therefore important that these animals be respected and given its own niche where it could carry out its role and ensure its survival.