LECHON crocodile, anyone? "How about crocodile sausage or hot dog?
Known for having the most diverse and critically endangered species of flora and fauna, the Philippines is also home to the most dangerous wildlife—including the man-eating crocodile.
Just recently, the largest of its kind—a man-eating Crocodylus porosus later named as “Lolong,” was captured in Agusan del Norte last year.
The 21-foot Lolong, a male saltwater crocodile, currently holds the world record as the largest reptile of its kind ever to be captured alive from the wild.
Ironically, the hunt for Lolong was triggered by reports that a giant crocodile was sighted by people outside its natural habitat, perhaps to hunt for food.
Today crocodile meat products are sold alongside cold cuts from cattle, swine and chicken and are becoming popular among Filipinos with a distinct taste for exotic dishes, not to mention exotic leather bags, shoes, belts and wallets of crocodile origin.
Critically endangered
CROCODILES, a critically endangered wildlife, are now being bred in captivity, raised in crocodile farms like swine, cattle and broiler for their meat and skin.
The government is eyeing the economic benefits of having a fully developed crocodile-farming industry in the Philippines through crocodile farming.
Co-operators of crocodile farms are now in business of supplying fresh and processed crocodile meat harvested from crocodile farms.
The development of crocodile-farming technology in the Philippines can be traced back in 1987 with the establishment of the Crocodile Farming Institute (CFI) in Barangay Irawan, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
CFI, now called the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center (PWRRC), was established to conserve the two species of “critically endangered” Philippine crocodiles and to empower the communities from the economic benefit of crocodile through crocodile farming.
From wildlife to livestock
RECOGNIZED as a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora-accredited facility, the CFI is the first and only CITE-recognized breeding facility in the Philippines.
The government has two main objectives in putting up the facility—to breed crocodiles, to help repopulate them in the wild and to commercialize their meat and skin for human consumption.
By virtue of DENR Administrative Order 99-45, CFI began operation with a few stocks of crocodiles rescued from the wild, and through the pioneering spirit of Gerry Ortega, the slain Palawan broadcast journalist and environmental advocate, the crocodile-farming industry was born, with the distribution of the first batch of crocodile stocks to six cooperators licensed to operate crocodile farms in 2000.
The six cooperators are William Belo of Wilcon Buildings Inc., which operates the Coral Farms in Tanay, Rizal; Heintje Ong Limketkai of the Philippine Ostrich and Crocodile Farm Inc., which maintains a crocodile farm in Cagayan de Oro City; Vicente P. Mercado of J.K. Mercado & Sons Agricultural Enterprise, which runs the Pag-asa Farms in Pag-asa, Kapalong, Davao City; Lino Borromeo of the Valderrama Lumber Manufacturers Co. Inc., which operates a farm also in Davao City; Antonio Oposa of Polunan Farms Corp., which has a farm in Trece Martires, Cavite; and Buddy Chan of Golden Acre Farms in Lipa City, Batangas. The group later formed the Crocodylus Porosus Philippines Inc. (CPPI).
Crocodile farming was introduced as a strategy to help save the two species of “critically endangered” Philippine crocodiles from extinction, says Director Mundita Lim of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB).
By design, crocodile farming is ideal for those in the livestock industry.
The mortality in poultry and hog farms will no longer go to waste or, worse, find its way into the flea markets as “double dead” meat, or botcha, which is being sold to unsuspecting consumers, as they can now be chopped and fed to crocodiles being raised in crocodile farms.
Still endangered, missing
WHILE the government promotes crocodile farming in partnership with the private sector, Lim said “harvesting” crocodiles in the wild remains strictly prohibited.
In the wild, particularly their natural habitats, “crocodiles are an important part of the ecosystem and must be protected,” she said.
The current population and distribution of the two species of crocodiles found in the Philippines—the Crocodylus porosus, commonly found in swampy areas around the world, and the endemic Crocodylus mindorensis—remain “critically endangered.”
Sightings of crocodiles, particularly the freshwater crocodiles that used to thrive on the islands of Mindoro, are now rarely observed.
Their virtual disappearance was attributed to the massive destruction of their natural habitat, hunting for sport, as well as for their meat and skin until the government banned the harvesting of crocodiles in the wild.
The Philippines, Lim said, can claim relevant success in conserving Philippine crocodiles, with the continuing information, education and communication campaign about their importance to the ecosystem, and the establishment of crocodile farms, now one of the tourist attractions in Puerto Princesa City.
Today the harvesting of crocodiles for their meat and skin, or for sport, has been effectively minimized, if not completely stopped
Big market, big demand
THE demand for crocodile skin and meat is big, and the Philippines can be a major exporter of the two major crocodile products in the future, Lim said.
New and additional jobs and livelihood opportunities, plus the taxes to be generated both by the national and local governments from a fully developed crocodile-farming industry, are some of the economic benefits to look forward to, she said.
Some 1.5 million crocodiles are being traded worldwide every year because of the huge demand for crocodile skin, which is used to manufacture leather bags, jacket, belt, wallet and other fashionable items.
A regular-size “Class A” raw crocodile skin could be sold at $1,000 per piece. For every piece of crocodile skin exported by the cooperators, PAWB gets a share of the 3-percent tax.
Aside from Japan and Singapore, European countries and the United States are the bigger potential markets for crocodile skin.
Several crocodile farms also started harvesting crocodiles in 2007; the raw skin was exported to Japan, Singapore and Thailand.
Likewise, processed crocodile meat can now be found alongside processed meat products from pork, beef and chicken in the wet-and-dry section of selected grocery stores in Metro Manila.
Records show that from 2007 to 2011, at least 2,053 crocodile skins were exported—a minuscule share in the multibillion-dollar crocodile-skin market, but with huge growth potential, Lim said.
The bulk of crocodile skin exports is from Coral Farms, which now maintains at least 25,000 crocodiles. Coral Farms also boasts of being a major supplier of crocodile meat and processed crocodile-meat products.
Some of the farms now breed the crocodiles they grow and sell these to buyers of various products independent from the PWRRC.
Aside from meat and skin, displays and accessories from crocodile skull, teeth, bones and even stuffed crocodiles are some of the products the co-operators have developed over the years."
http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/to...e-to-livestock
exotic food..really taste good more than taste of a chicken... yummy!
Originally Posted by Rhose
I should have said yes....
