The second stop on my city tour was the Palawan Crocodile Farm and Wildlife Preserve. Again, I was interested in all of these areas because tourism seems to be Puerto Princesa's number one product and area of concern, and yet there is very little being done to actually cater to tourists. The crocodile farm is actually a reasonable destination and they could, perhaps, make more of it to visitors.
They have a visitors center where information is given and there are children's education areas, a small museum section with diaramas, and the skeleton and skin of the largest crocodile ever to be caught in Palawan. I am told by many people that there are occasionally crocodiles found in the Philippines with Australian tags clipped to them. That is an awfully long way to swim, especially for a river animal. Whether it's true or not, I am also told that the Filipinos take off the Aussie tags, and replace them with Filipino tags, as you do.
There is a nursery here, where hundreds of baby crocodiles in dozens of open tanks are cared for, and apparently they release many into the wild. There are also paddocks with full sized crocs over which there is a metal walkway on which to walk. For an extra 30 pesos you can hold a baby crocodile, which of course I just had to.
There is also a wildlife preservation area here for injured animals, which includes the famous Palawan Bear Cat, some monkeys, a couple of ostriches (not indigenous) and otherwise mostly parrots and other birds. Palawan has many endemic species that are found nowhere else, but there really isn't anywhere to see most of them. On an island up north, there is a game reserve where you can find a whole plethora of African game animals, which dates back to the wonderful days of the Marcos era. (see more photos)
They have a visitors center where information is given and there are children's education areas, a small museum section with diaramas, and the skeleton and skin of the largest crocodile ever to be caught in Palawan. I am told by many people that there are occasionally crocodiles found in the Philippines with Australian tags clipped to them. That is an awfully long way to swim, especially for a river animal. Whether it's true or not, I am also told that the Filipinos take off the Aussie tags, and replace them with Filipino tags, as you do.
There is a nursery here, where hundreds of baby crocodiles in dozens of open tanks are cared for, and apparently they release many into the wild. There are also paddocks with full sized crocs over which there is a metal walkway on which to walk. For an extra 30 pesos you can hold a baby crocodile, which of course I just had to.
There is also a wildlife preservation area here for injured animals, which includes the famous Palawan Bear Cat, some monkeys, a couple of ostriches (not indigenous) and otherwise mostly parrots and other birds. Palawan has many endemic species that are found nowhere else, but there really isn't anywhere to see most of them. On an island up north, there is a game reserve where you can find a whole plethora of African game animals, which dates back to the wonderful days of the Marcos era. (see more photos)
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