Bernard Tarun, now a biodiversity expert at the Mabuwaya Foundation, wasn’t a fan of crocodiles when he started off. The first time he held a Philippine crocodile in his hands, he was bitten. But instead of shunning the creatures, he grew adamant he’d establish rapport with them, learn how to manage them, and never get bitten again. “Especially those communities living near the crocodile localities, they already changed their mind,” says Tarun. “From ‘Oh, you have to kill that one’, now to ‘Okay, don’t disturb, enjoy watching the crocodile’.”
