Successful breeding campaign helps save rare crocodile from near extinction

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Conservationists are marking 25 years of crocodile breeding and recovery in Cambodia, with a record release of a critically endangered species. Once believed extinct, Siamese crocodiles were rediscovered in Cambodia in the early 2000s. Conservationists at Fauna & Flora International have worked to save them by breeding them in protected conditions and then releasing them into remote areas of forest to bolster wild populations. International demand for crocodile skins and the boom of the crocodile farming industry has been blamed for pushing the species to extinction in Cambodia. “Twenty-five years ago now, Fauna & Flora rediscovered a population of Siamese Crocodiles in Cambodia,” says Pablo Sinovas, country director of Fauna & Flora International in Cambodia. “The species was thought to be extinct in the wild up until that point. And so, following that discovery, we have been working with the government and with local communities to help bring the species back from the brink of extinction. We are doing that by protecting the habitat, by monitoring populations, and importantly by breeding the species in captivity and taking it back into remote areas in the wild where they are also protected by those local community patrols.” Following the groundbreaking discovery, Fauna & Flora launched the Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Programme with the goal of safeguarding the recovery of the species. “Siamese crocodiles are one of the rarest reptiles in the world,” Sinovas says. “To help with its recovery, we are releasing them in very remote sites in the Cardamom Mountains, a jungle area where the species can be safe. And we are doing this because it is an important species for the ecosystem. As a top predator, it contributes to maintaining ecosystem health. Also in Cambodia, this is a very important species culturally. It is considered to be sacred by Indigenous people in that landscape. And so, the recovery of the species is essential from an ecological, as well as cultural, perspective.” To mark 25 years since the rediscovery of Siamese crocodiles, Fauna & Flora released 50 crocodiles into the Cardamom Mountains last month. They say this is the largest crocodile release on record. This article was provided by The Associated Press.