A visit to Davao Crocodile Park

          I thought that the Davao Crocodile Park is a sanctuary only for crocodiles and so I thought that we will only stay there for a few minutes just to show our children a real live crocodile because my younger daughter haven’t seen a live one.  When we got in the park after our visit in Zorb Park and Walk ‘N Water ball it was 2:00 in the afternoon and we didn’t get the chance to watch an ethnic show a little earlier which has just ended when we arrived. 

          Fortunately, we were able to witness the feeding of their largest crocodile named 'Pangil' at that time, caged in a big pond, solely for this wild animal situated near the entrance, as this crocodile is the main feature of the park.  There was a voice over a large megaphone calling people to watch the live feeds of their King crocodile and the people gathered around the big cage, taking their position on where to best view the animal and preparing for their still cameras and video cameras just like us to capture the fleeting moment.  When the caretaker took out the live chicken from the bucket and throw it on the widely opened mouth of the hungry crocodile, just instantly within a few second just as the object came near its mouth the crocodile engulfed the chicken and it’s gone into view, nothing left but a few feathers flown in the air which was dislodged during its struggle with the crocodile.  I felt pity for what happened to the chicken.  Well, that’s how the food chain works for predators like a crocodile and that’s a fact.

          After the gruesome episode from the giant crocodile, we hopped on to each cage of animals like different kinds of birds, monkeys, tiger, snakes and lizards.  They are letting some animals to interact with visitors, to be touched, hold or carry with the aid of the zoo keepers. 

Burmese python

Python

Baby crocodile

The baby crocodile pooped!

I'm trying to catch the bird 

          The animals are gagged so it’s safe for children to hold and touch some of the wild animals and they also took off the venom from the snakes.  One funny incident happened was while my eldest daughter was holding the baby crocodile it pooped in her pants and good thing she brought extra clothes with her that’s why she was able to change her soiled pants.  So the learning here is never put any animal on top of your lap or near your clothes to avoid any accident and embarrassment such as this or you’ll get stinky your whole travel.

Breeding pond for crocodiles

Dissected crocodile

Crocodile products - skin is made into bags, belts, wallets, key chains.  Crocodile tooth is made into necklace pendants.

          Davao Crocodile Park is not only for tourists who want to get entertained, but also serves as an educational venue for students in the field of Science and anybody interested in the biology of crocodiles and other wildlife animals as the park lectures on the conservation of these inhabitants and the anatomy of a crocodile and dugong (marine mammal) are displayed near the entrance for public viewing.  

Pricing, schedule and transportation:

Per person – Adult PHP 150.00, Child PHP 75.00 regular price

Schedule -   Monday to Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

·         During the lean season they offer it at a discounted price of PHP 350.00 per package which includes Zip lining at Zip City, zorbing at Zorb Park, Water ball ride and entrance to Butterfly garden.

Transportation – If you don’t have your own vehicle with you or did not rented one to bring and fetch you, the easiest and most convenient way is to coordinate with the cashier outside for the telephone numbers for taxi operators to fetch you from where you are, you can use their phone at PHP 5.00 per minute call or use your mobile phone to call if you have it with you.  There are benches outside the park for waiting.  Another option is if you could endure the 15 minutes or more, to walk your way out the compound of the Riverfront Corporate City to get to the main road of the Maa Diversion Road.