Ano ba talaga? Crocs or no Crocs?

I raised concerns of possible crocodile attacks in Cainta when several photos started to circulate on Facebook with what looks like crocodiles roaming the flooded waters. However we eventually dismissed this after a press release came out saying that all crocodiles in the Pasig zoo were accounted for and that there are no crocs out on the waters. What puzzles me though is a new press release on Inquirer.Net saying that local residents in Cainta were really confirming the reports that there was a five-foot long crocodile wading through the murky waters of the flooded streets in their town.

Here’s the latest article:

MANILA, Philippines—Floods covering large parts of Manila have brought a new intruder—a crocodile, which was seen swimming in a village in Cainta, Rizal, local television reported Wednesday.

Top broadcaster ABS-CBN quoted local residents as saying that they spotted the five-foot long crocodile late Monday as they made their way through flooded streets of the town.

Resident Michael Lambert said he and his friends saw a floating object which they thought might be a tire.

“It was pitch black. There was no electricity or whatever. But we had a flashlight. We trained our flashlight on the thing and saw that it was a crocodile,” Lambert told the television station.

The group took refuge on a mound of soil and Lambert took a picture which he posted on his Facebook page. It shows a partially submerged object that resembles a crocodile floating beside some houses.

Lambert suggested that the animal may have escaped from a zoo during the floods unleashed when Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana) hit the country on Saturday.

However, some officials said it may have simply been washed out of a nearby swamp by the floods.

ABS-CBN quoted local police as confirming that a crocodile was roaming Cainta but gave no details. Crocodiles are indigenous to the Philippines but are rarely seen near inhabited areas.
Agence France-Presse

I showed the pictures to some friends of mine who were graphic artists and they were really convinced that the pictures were fake because of the following factors:

- Lightning was different for the crocodile in contrast to the rest of the pictures
- Same crocodile in the same pose in both pictures

Oh well. Who really knows at this point. I still think people should stay clear of flood waters as much as possible because of the viral infections you can get as well as snake bites.

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