Crocodiles or buwaya are once more in the news, but this time in their original incarnations and not their human versions. We’ll get to those in time. Crocodiles are back in the limelight after the capture of a 6.4-meter-long brackish water crocodile dubbed “Lolong” by the media and the local folk. Lolong, who it is hoped will make an appearance in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest crocodile, was captured in Agusan Marsh, a big part of which is located in the province of Agusan del Sur. “Lolong’s” capture has also focused national and international attention on the Marsh itself which in 1994 was placed under the National Integrated Protected Area System (Nipas), effectively putting a stop to crocodile hunting in the locality. Dr. Jurgenne Honculada-Primavera, an internationally recognized biologist and “scientist emerita” with the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department, writes that the ban on hunting “removed humans as top predator from the food chain, leaving the crocodiles to grow in numbers as well as body size.”

David, R. J. (2011, September 27). 'Buwaya' in the limelight. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A13.