SAN MARIANO, Isabela – The critically small population of the Philippine crocodiles is likely to grow following the establishment of the Philippine Crocodile Conservation Center (PCCC) inside the Isabela State University campus in San Mariano.
The PCCC will play an important role in sustaining crocodile conservation activities in San Mariano and in generating income for communities conserving crocodiles.
The center is a joint project of Isabela State University, the local government of San Mariano and the Mabuwaya Foundation, and supported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Tourism.
The center consists of crocodile holding pens and a visitors’ building.
The holding pens are used to house adult crocodiles for the first conservation breeding program with Luzon-origin Philippine crocodiles, and for wild-born hatchling crocodiles.
Crocodiles raised in the center will be released in the wild to augment the critically small wild population of one of the rarest animals on the planet.
The visitors building will be used for environmental education and as the gateway for visitors who want to explore the wilderness areas of San Mariano and the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park to see Philippine crocodiles and many other rare endemic species in the wild.
The Philippine crocodile Crocodylus mindorensis is endemic to the Philippines, and it is not found anywhere else in the world.
Marites Balbas, Chief Operating Officer of the Mabuwaya Foundation said that the species is nationally protected and because of its relatively small size, it does not pose a threat to people, as compared to the crocodile species in the Philippines, notably the saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus.
One of the last wild populations of the Philippine crocodile is found in the municipality of San Mariano in Isabela Province.
The PCCC was made possible through financial support from international zoos in Australia and Europe that have the Philippine crocodile in their collection. These include Zoos Victoria in Australia, ZSL London Zoo, Crocodiles of the World and Wild Discovery in the United Kingdom, La Ferme aux Crocodiles in France, Koln Zoo in Germany, Bergen Aquarium in Norway, The Blue Planet, Krokodille Zoo and Terrariet - Reptile Zoo in Denmark, Zagreb Zoo in Croatia and Protovin Crocodile Zoo in the Czech Republic; and donations to the Mabuwaya Foundation.