National Museum, Agusan execs agree to preserve Lolong’s remains

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Officials of the National Museum and Bunawan, Agusan del Sur have reportedly signed an agreement to preserve the remains of “Lolong,” considered to be the world’s largest crocodile in captivity when it was still alive.

This gave a relief to maintainers of the Davao Crocodile Park here where Lolong’s head and skin are being kept in separate freezers.

Phillip Dizon, proprietor of the crocodile park, said the provincial prosecutor’s office in Agusan del Sur even reportedly checked the agreement.

Lolong, captured in Liguasan Marsh in September 2011, died last February while kept inside a pen at the Bunawan Eco Park and Research Center. 

Dizon earlier had called the attention of the National Museum and Bunawan officials, as it would not be good for Lolong’s head and skin to be kept frozen for a long time.

“If you keep the skin and the head frozen for a long time, there would be a tendency that these would also get freezer burns as a result,” he said.

Dizon said Lolong’s bones buried in the Bunawan Eco Park also have to be retrieved, as the “elements would eventually destroy these if kept buried for a long time.”

Dizon said the National Museum and the Bunawan municipal government “might build an image of Lolong out of the bones and make a replica of the head of the crocodile to make it complete.”