Two decades later I found myself beside the world's largest captive crocodile, venerable Lolong, in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. As a team from the DOST measured him, I realized that crocodiles actually lived way before many of the dinosaurs - evolving in the Mesozoic epoch to stalk juvenile Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Rex and others foolish enough to get waylaid by the water's edge. Hailing from a family which actually outlived T-Rex, last Sunday's demise of Lolong comes as a shock to both crocodile enthusiasts and conservationists.

Yan, G. (2013, February 22). Crocodiles: Caught in the jaws of extinction. The Daily Guardian, pp. B12, B4.