Philippine crocodile

Philippine crocodile, (Crocodylus mindorensis), relatively small species of crocodile that lives primarily in freshwater rivers, ponds, and marshes on the islands of Dalupiri, Luzon, and Mindanao in the Philippines. The Philippine crocodile is considered to be one of the world’s most endangered crocodilians. Its geographic range once extended across the Philippine islands; however, during the 20th and 21st centuries its range contracted to a handful of small, fragmented habitats. The Philippine crocodile was classified a subspecies of the New Guinea crocodile (Crocodylus novaeguineae) until 1989.

Natural history

With respect to the size of other crocodiles, the Philippine crocodile is small. The largest forms reach a maximum length of 3 meters (9.8 feet); however, most individuals grow to about 2 meters (6.6 feet) long. Adults weigh between 90 and 190 kg (198 and 418 pounds), and males tend to be larger than females. The top and sides of the bodies of fully grown adults are brown and gray with black bands and patches. The crocodile’s underside is lighter colored. The outside of the body is made up of thick dorsal scales that are arranged in defined rows, and the head is characterized by a broad triangular snout. The inside of the mouth is colored bright yellow, and it contains between 66 and 68 teeth. In contrast, young Philippine crocodiles are golden brown with dark stripes and a near-white underside.

These crocodiles rarely move from their wetland habitat, alternately swimming in shallow waterways and basking on the shore or on emergent logs. To maintain their buoyancy in the water, they consume rocks. The diet of younger individuals is made up of invertebrates, including dragonflies, snails, and crustaceans, and small fishes, whereas adults consume larger fishes and other prey, including birds and snakes. Although Philippine crocodiles are not considered dangerous to people, they have attacked livestock, including pigs and dogs. Despite their size, adult Philippine crocodiles do not seem to be preyed upon by larger reptiles. Human beings, who have traditionally harvested the species for its meat and hides or killed it out of fear, are the adult crocodile’s only predators. Eggs and newly hatched young, however, do fall victim to pigs, mongooses, rats, herons, and monitor lizards.

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Philippine crocodiles are polygynous, with males breeding with multiple females during the region’s dry season, which lasts from about December to May. After mating occurs, female crocodiles will either construct a mound made up of leaves and other plant debris or excavate a nest in the soil. After four to five months of gestation, she can deposit a clutch of as many as 33 eggs in the mound. The eggs are guarded and incubated by both parents. (Females can lay up to three clutches of eggs in a given year.) Between two and two and a half months later, the young hatch and emerge from the mound. Although information on the crocodile’s parenting in the wild is limited, young have been reported to remain in the care of their mother until about three months of age. Young female Philippine crocodiles become sexually mature as early as age 10, when they reach lengths of 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) or more. Males, in contrast, first mate at about age 15, when they have grown to roughly 2.1 meters (6.9 feet) long. The species is long lived, and experts speculate that individuals may live as long as 80 years in the wild.

Conservation status

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and other organizations report that the Philippine crocodile population has been decreasing since the late 1930s. The IUCN listed it as an endangered species from 1982 to 1996, changing its classification to critically endangered thereafter. Population studies estimate that the species’ numbers fell by 85–94 percent between 1937 and 2012. More-recent population surveys suggest that between 92 and 137 adults remain in the wild; however, captive Philippine crocodile breeding programs exist in the Philippines, Australia, the United States, and Denmark. The primary threats to its survival include habitat loss associated with the construction of rice fields and other forms of agriculture, accidental ensnarement in fishing nets, and hunting—the latter of which was outlawed in the Philippines with respect to the species in 2001.