The Crocodile Farm in Palawan
Still on our first day, we were able to go to the Crocodile Farm after visiting the Buttefly Garden. Since it was a Sunday, the Crocodile Farm only opens from 2-4 p.m.I think Mavis had to pay Php50 for adults and Php20 for children.
The crocodiles are considered an endangered wildlife in the Philippines thus the Crocodile Farm was institutionalized. The entrance to the Crocodile Exhibit was interesting because in the hall were the bones and skin of a 19-ft long crocodile which was captured only because it “accidentally” ate a human. It is the remains of the largest that was ever captured in Palawan. It was kept alive but died some moths after captivity. A tour guide is available and would show you around the Farm and some intersting facts about the crocodiles.
We were taken to the crocodile nursery where young crocodiles are kept in large basins. As little as they were, a glimpse at them can already elicit fear as they already have sharp teeth and can leap but not high enough to get out of the basins. This is were they grow the crocodiles and would eventually be placed back to their natural habitat after some months. You would also be taken to pens where the adult crocodiles live. Some of the bigger ones are solitary while the smaller ones share pens. There is a metal bridge suspended on top of the pens. Although sturdy, somehow it crossed my mind whether the bridge was strong enough to hold us. Thank God it did!
The best part of our visit to the Crocodile Farm was being able to hold a real and live crocodile, just a small one of course. If you're brave enough , you just have to pay extra 30 pesos for the photo opportunity. Another group who were there weren't that brave and decided not to hold the baby croc. The croc itself was not that big and its snout was bound by a rubber band. Even so, it was scary to hold the crocodile after all an ordinary rubber band can easily snap. Luckily it didn’t when we held the croc. Xiane, a brave little girl that she is, also held the crocodile in her hands without hesitation. I had to support her hands though because it was a little heavy for her.
It's nice that Palawan is conserving its wildlife, including the crocodiles. And the Crocodile Farm is a great place to infrom and teach people that even "scary" crocs deserve to have their place in Palawan.
