MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A southern Philippine town plans to hold funeral rites for the world's largest saltwater crocodile and then preserve its remains in a museum to keep tourists coming and prevent their community from slipping back into obscurity, the town's mayor said Monday.
The 1-ton crocodile was declared dead Sunday a few hours after flipping over with a bloated stomach in a pond in an eco-tourism park in Bunawan town, which had started to draw tourists, revenue and development because of the immense reptile, Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said.
"The whole town, in fact the whole province, is mourning," Elorde said from Bunawan in Agusan del Sur province. "My phones kept ringing because people wanted to say how affected they are."
In a news conference Monday, Elorde fought back tears as he recalled how the town took care of the crocodile not as a beast but like an "adopted son."
Guinness World Records had proclaimed it the largest saltwater crocodile in captivity last year, measuring the giant at 6.17 meters (20.24 feet). The reptile took the top spot from an Australian crocodile that measured more than 5 meters (17 feet) and weighed nearly a ton.
The crocodile was named Lolong, after a government environmental officer who died from a heart attack after traveling to Bunawan to help capture the beast. The crocodile, estimated to be more than 50 years old, was blamed for a few brutal deaths of villagers before Bunawan folk came to love it.
The giant reptile has come to symbolize the rich bio-diversity of Agusan marsh, where it was captured. The vast complex of swamp forests, shallow lakes, lily-covered ponds and wetlands is home to wild ducks, herons, egrets and threatened species like the Philippine Hawk Eagle.
Wildlife experts were to perform an autopsy as early as Monday to determine the cause of its death, Elorde said.
Bunawan villagers planned to perform a tribal ritual, which involves butchering chicken and pigs as funeral offerings to thank forest spirits for the fame and other blessings the crocodile has brought, Elordie said. A group of Christians would separately offer prayers before the autopsy.
The rites would be held at the eco-tourism park, where the reptile had emerged as a star attraction, drawing foreign tourists, scientists and wildlife reporting outfits like the National Geographic to Bunawan, a far-flung town of 37,000 people about 515 miles (830 kilometers) southeast of Manila.
The crocodile's capture in September 2011 sparked celebrations in Bunawan, but it also raised concerns that more giant crocodiles might lurk in a marshland and creek where villagers fish. The crocodile was captured with steel cable traps during a hunt prompted by the death of a child in 2009 and the later disappearance of a fisherman. Water buffalos have also been attacked by crocodiles in the area.
About 100 people led by Elorde pulled the crocodile from a creek using a rope and then hoisted it by crane onto a truck.
Elorde's town wanted to launch a new hunt for a larger crocodile, which he said he and other villagers saw lurking near a river shortly before Lolong was captured. But he said the town needed to get permission from wildlife officials, who have banned such hunting expeditions amid an ongoing survey of the crocodile population in Agusan marsh.
Philippine officials had planned to construct a road to the park to accommodate the growing number of tourists, Elorde said, adding that he planned to have Lolong preserved and placed in a museum so Bunawan villagers and tourists could still marvel at it.
"I'd like them to see the crocodile that broke a world record and put our town on the map," he said.




source ....http://news.yahoo.com/philippine-town-mourns-largest-captive-crocodile-005603826.html

Great! im glad they are doing a Pagan cermmony in the catholic country of Phillipines, for the great beast who provided them income and fame. We Pagans love animals!



P.S. im glad to be the 1st to comment. All credit goes to Saarkin Aljannu, Obatala, Shango, Amadioha, Thor, Odin, SHiva, Vishnu, Chukwu, Zeus, and all the other Gods.

no credit goes to the man-God jesus.

Ase.

Let us eat!!!!!!!!!
Save the skin for my shoes!!!!

They should just drop it at one of the Lagos beaches. For a PROPER Burial .

What kind of Funeral ? Chop Chop Funeral or The other kind of funeral we all know. But i know say na belle the funeral go take place.

Its not a waste in naija, ϊƒ babalawo no use ª♏, calabar man go do pepper soup with am

See meat

This phillipino dudes sef! See nice pepper soup material oh . . .na im them wan dump for museum? Oya naija boys, mek we storm phillipines

fune...wat?, when my pot of soup neva full?

Good meat for some

Pepper soup tinz!!

nkwobi tins

I DONT KNOW WERE THIS PEOPLE GET THERE INFORMATION FROM, HOW CAN THIS BE THE WORLD BIGGEST CROCODILE? THERE IS A CROCODILE IN EDO STATE IN ETSAKO LGA AGENEBODE SPECIFICALLY THIS CROCODILE HAVE BEEN THERE FROM INCEPTION I MEAN AS OLD AS THE VILLAGE IT IS MORE BIGGER AND OLDER THAN THIS

^dont make lazy comments. if there is a bigger crocodile in Nigeria, create a thread and show some pics.

pafra: I DONT KNOW WERE THIS PEOPLE GET THERE INFORMATION FROM, HOW CAN THIS BE THE WORLD BIGGEST CROCODILE? THERE IS A CROCODILE IN EDO STATE IN ETSAKO LGA AGENEBODE SPECIFICALLY THIS CROCODILE HAVE BEEN THERE FROM INCEPTION I MEAN AS OLD AS THE VILLAGE IT IS MORE BIGGER AND OLDER THAN THIS

Please snap pishure of this croc with your phone, make we see am too, but take care, no come lose your limb in the process.

Na waho see better meat. Well thank God its dead

jammyng: Good meat for some

for some?¿¿....na una type de eat am pass......those kind stuff no get dullin 4 9ja na

God is great!. Men are just one of the many astonishing creatures of God. Imagine a reptile this large.

Save the tears for better days dudes! Just one of those things that happen cos of money-the town is crying for their loss of revenue and not d death of the croc.

If I had my way, all the crocs and snakes will be wiped off the surface of the earth

If I had my way, all the crocs and snakes will be wiped off the surface of the earth. I hate those creatures with passion.

^thnx Gods you dont have your way. if i had my way, murderous humans like you would be wiped off the face of this planet.

Who told them this na d biggest when they come my village swamp see crocodile...dem go fear na

PAGAN 9JA:
^thnx Gods you dont have your way. if i had my way, murderous humans like you would be wiped off the face of this planet.

Supported. As much as I hate snakes, killing them because you don't like them is wrong.

Another funny post on front page !

So where are we to buy our ''Aso- Ebi'' from anywhere around Nigeria !

U ma o !

manny4life:

Supported. As much as I hate snakes, killing them because you don't like them is wrong.

every creature has its purpose on Earth. these city-borns don realise this.

when you are a farmer and your profits fall as all your crops become rat food, then you will realize. .

Rest in peace to the crocodile.

Wow!!!just imagine encountering this kind of crocodile while swimming,micheal Phelps will envy you

fonssy: If I had my way, all the crocs and snakes will be wiped off the surface of the earth. I hate those creatures with passion.

eheh?bt some would love 2 hve dem as around