B.C. girl leads charge to free giant crocodile

Surrey animal rights activist Ashley Fruno has urged the Philippines to free what is thought to be the world’s largest crocodile in captivity, even though it allegedly killed two people.
The monster 6.4m male saltwater crocodile was placed in a penned pond after it was caught in a remote southern creek on September 3, with officials planning to use it as a tourist attraction once it adapts to its cage.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals senior Asia-Pacific campaigner Ashley Fruno said that despite suspicion it is a man-eater, the reptile was better off being returned to the wild, away from human settlements.
“(The government) should do the compassionate thing and order this crocodile to be returned to his natural habitat, as taking him away to be locked up in an animal prison is just plain wrong,” she wrote in her statement.
Penned animals are prone to psychotic behaviour and its immense size and power could prove dangerous to visitors and those caring for it, she warned.
“While even those zoos with the best intentions can never replicate the natural environment of animals, how do they expect to come remotely close with a crocodile roughly two or three times the size of a regular adult?”
The 1,075kg beast is suspected of eating a local man who went missing in July in the southern town of Bunawan, and of killing a 12-year-old girl whose head was bitten off in 2009.
Rollie Sumiller, who led the team that trapped the animal, earlier said that removing from the wild a huge reptile suspected of attacking humans was the correct thing to do.
 The Philippine specimen is bigger than the previous largest captive saltwater crocodile, which the Guinness World Records website lists as a 5.48m male that lives at an Australian nature park.
Responding to the calls to free the monster crocodile, Bunawan Mayor Edwin Elorde said
said the safety of the residents of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur remains as the top priority of the local government.
The crocodile, named “Lolong”, posed as a threat to the community after it was suspected of eating a farmer, as well as several cows in the town of Bunawan.
Press reports say the crocodile captured in the Philippines had not eaten anything for a week.
In the wild the species is known to survive without food for months after a meal.
Although her mother grew up on a dairy farm and her grandfather was president of the local rodeo board, Fruno has always cared about animals.
Now, Fruno is based in Manila, where she coordinates campaigns, web pages, marketing projects, investigations and the internship program for PETA Asia.
In addition to her animal rescue efforts – including in the Philippines following Tropical Storm Ondoy – she has participated in eye-catching demonstrations in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and elsewhere around the world.