KALIBO, Aklan—The management of the Kalibo Ostrich Farm at Barangay Tigayon, Kalibo bared Thursday that it has been able to hatch six baby crocodiles in captivity.
In an interview at his residence in Barangay New Buswang, Kalibo , Ramon Dio said the parent-crocodiles were turned over to him by the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Western Visayas based in Iloilo.
“Aside from the six baby crocodiles, there are still scores of eggs that are yet to be hatched on our farm. I hope they will survive,” Dio said.
The DENR regional office rescued the reptiles along with other animals from a zoo in Dumaguete City in November last year. The Dumaguete Zoo reported to the DENR that it would not be able to take care of the animals because they, like many others, were closed to tourists for years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis) was declared “critically depleted” in 2021 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It was reported that only about 100 of the Philippine crocodiles were left in the country to date, most of them in the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park.
Tourists may visit the baby crocodiles at the Ostrich farm. Aside from crocodiles, the farm has a Bengal tiger, a lion, snakes, a bearcat, and an ostrich, among others.
