Siamese crocodileCrocodylus siamensis: overview
Freshwater crocodile (Chorake nam choet)
One type of aquatic reptile is the Siamese crocodile. It can be found anywhere. Its native countries include Indonesia, Brunei, East Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, etc. This species is critical lyrics endangered. In many places, it is already extinct. The Singapore small-grain and soft-bellied crocodile and the Siamese freshwater crocodile are some of its other common names.
Siamese crocodile Characteristics:
With a noticeable bony ridge behind each eye and a comparatively wide, sleek snout, the Siamese crocodile is a freshwater reptile of intermediate size. Overall, it is an olive-green color, with some variations to dark green. Young specimens measure 1.2–1.5 meters and weigh six to twelve kilograms, growing to 2.1 meters and weighing forty – seventy kilograms as adults. The largest female specimens can be 3.2 meters and weigh 150 kilograms. Large males can reach 4 meters and weigh 350 kilograms. Most adults do not exceed 3 meters (10 ft) in length.
Distribution and Habitat:
Siamese crocodiles inhabit various freshwater environments, such as sluggish rivers and creeks, ponds, temporary oxbow lakes, wetlands, and marshy lowlands.
Biology and Behavior:
Many facets of C. siamensis's life history in the wild are still unknown, especially in relation to its reproductive biology, despite these conservation concerns.
Adults feed primarily on fish and snakes, but they also eat amphibians and small mammals.
Little is known about the natural history of this species in the wild, but females build mound nests made of scraped plant debris mixed with soil. In captivity, these crocodiles breed during the wet season (April to May), laying fifteen to fifty eggs, which they then guard until their young hatch. After incubation, the female will assist her young as they hatch from their eggs and then carry the young to the water in her jaws.
Pure, non-hybridized examples of this species are generally non-aggressive to humans, and there are only four confirmed attacks, none of them fatal. One was defending its young, another was probably defending itself, one was provoked, and the last one is unclear. The fifth attack, in 1928, was fatal, but the victim was a juvenile (i.e., closer to the size of a normal prey item compared to an adult), and it's unclear exactly whatever species the crocodile is.
Conservation status and threats
Due to its inclusion in Appendix I of CITES, this crocodile is classed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
There are one of the most endangered crocodiles in the wild. Despite this, it is frequently bred in captivity.
Threats:
Human disturbance and habitat encroachment are threatening Siamese crocodiles by pushing the remnant populations to the boundaries of their former range.Extinct from 99% of their original range, the Siamese crocodile is considered one of the least studied and most endangered crocodilians in the world.While there are still some wild populations, over 700,000 C. Siamese are kept on commercial crocodile farms in Southeast Asia.
In 1992, it was considered critically endangered or extinct in the wild until 2000, when scientists from Fauna & Flora International and the government's Cambodian Forestry Administration confirmed the presence of Siamese crocodiles in the Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia. Since then, surveys have identified about 30 locations in Cambodia that contain wild Siamese crocodiles (conservative estimates put their number at between 200 and 400).
In March 2005, conservationists found a nest containing juvenile Siamese crocodiles in a savannah in southern Laos. No current records are available from Brunei, Burma, or Malaysia. A small but significant population of crocodiles also lives in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Habitat Degradation:
Factors causing habitat loss include: conversion of wetlands for agriculture, use of chemical fertilizers, use of pesticides in rice production, and increased livestock populations. Also included are the effects of war (from landmines to aerial bombing) resulting from the conflicts in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Many river systems, including protected areas, have approved or proposed hydroelectric power dams, which could cause the loss of about half of the remaining breeding colonies in the next ten years. One cause of habitat degradation through hydrological changes, for the Siamese crocodile, is the implementation of dams on the Mekong River and its major tributaries. Potential impacts of dam construction include wetland loss and altered flood cycles with dry season flows 50 percent higher than natural conditions.
Exploitation and fragmentation:
Illegal capture of wild crocodiles for supply to farms is a continuing threat, as well as accidental capture/drowning in fishing nets and traps. C. siamensis currently has a very small and fragmented remaining population with little proven reproduction in the wild.
Historically, Siamese crocodiles have been harvested for their skins and to supply commercial crocodile farms. In 1945, the French colonial administration of Cambodia banned skin hunting for commercial farms. In the late 1940s, populations encouraged the development of farms and the harvesting of wild crocodiles to stock these farms. Protection was abolished by the Khmer Rouge (1975–79) but was later restored under Article 18 of the 1987 Fisheries Law, which "prohibits the capture, sale and transport of crocodiles…”
Crocodile farming is now having a huge economic impact in the provinces around the Tonle Sap, where in 1998 there were over 20,000 crocodiles on 396 farms. In addition, many crocodiles have been exported from Cambodia since the mid-1980s to stock commercial farms in Thailand, Vietnam, and China.
Despite legal protection, a lucrative market for catching crocodiles and selling them to farms has existed since the early 1980s. The wild crocodile is declining as a result of this ongoing overharvesting.
Conservation and Management:
The current status of C. siamensis represents a significant improvement from the status listed in the 1992 Action Plan (effectively extinct in the wild), but major new challenges for quantitative surveys and effective conservation action are faced if the species is to survive. Although the species is critically endangered, there are sufficient remaining wild populations, albeit severely fragmented across several regions and countries, to provide a basis for recovery.
The Siamese crocodile is relatively harmless to people (compared to the crocodilian), and in the natural environment, people and crocodiles appear likely to coexist. The powerful economic power of the commercial industry based on C. siamensis also needs to be mobilized and used for the benefit of conservation. Considerable effort and action are still needed, but if the necessary measures can be implemented, the species has a reasonable chance of survival.
Yaasan Olin (Ironwood Foundation) is running a small project to conserve an important wetland habitat in the East Kalimantan region known for its crocodiles. Although most of them live in Cambodia, isolated, small groups also exist in several remote areas of the Cardamom Mountains, in the southwest of the country, and in the Wirachot National Park, in the northeast of the country.
Cambodian Biodiversity & Flora International and the Cambodian Government’s Forestry Administration have established the Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Program to protect and restore Siamese crocodiles. The program works with a network of local villages who are helping to protect key sites such as the Vel Veng Marsh (Vel Veng District), the Tatai River (Thamr Bang District), and the Areng River.
The latter is considered the second largest population of Siamese crocodiles in the world, but is currently threatened by the proposed construction of a large dam on the river. During the intense June-November monsoon, Siamese crocodiles take advantage of the rise in water levels to migrate out of the river to large lakes and other local bodies of water, returning to their original habitat when the water level begins to decrease to normal levels.
In 2009, 35 of the 69 crocodiles in the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Cambodia were identified as purebred C. siamensis by the Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Program through DNA research. Forestry Administration and Fauna conservationists & Flora International subsequently began a conservation breeding program at the center. Since 2012, about 50 purebred Siamese crocodiles from Cambodia have been released into community-protected areas to help replenish the depleted wild population.
Poaching is a serious threat to this species, with wild Siamese crocodiles fetching hundreds of dollars on the black market, where they are illegally taken to crocodile farms and hybridized with other larger species. The total wild population is unknown, as most groups are in isolated areas where access is extremely difficult. There are thousands of "pure" individuals in captivity that are bred in crocodile farms. However many captive individuals are the product of hybridisation with saltwater crocodiles in Thailand.
There are plans to reintroduce Siamese crocodiles into the wild at Pang Sedda National Park in Thailand, near Cambodia.Numerous juvenile crocodiles have been released into a park river that is small and inaccessible to tourists.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is working with the Lao government on a new program to protect this critically endangered crocodile and its wetlands. In August two thousand eleven, a press release announced the successful hatching of a clutch of twenty Siamese crocodiles. The eggs were then transferred to a zoo in Laos. The project represents a new effort by WCS to conserve the biodiversity and habitat of the savannah region of Laos, promoting biodiversity conservation for the entire landscape, and relying on the involvement of local communities.
Priority ProjectsHigh priority projects are included:
Status surveys and development of crocodile management and conservation programs in Cambodia and Laos: These two countries appear to be the remaining strongholds of the species. Identifying key areas and populations, and obtaining quantitative estimates of population size are needed as a precursor to initiating conservation programs.
Implementation of habitat protection and restoration in Thailand:
Although this species has virtually disappeared from the wild, it is possible to re-establish viable populations in protected areas.
Conservation of crocodile populations in Vietnam:
A combination of habitat protection and captive breeding can prevent species loss in Vietnam. A In Cát Tiên National Park, a breeding population has been successfully restored. Vietnamese institutions must conduct more surveys, find appropriate locations, and put in place a conservation program that is combined with captive breeding initiatives.
Freshwater crocodile taxonomy in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago: Little is known about the relationships between the freshwater crocodiles in the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago.Clarifying these connections is vital for conservation and of scientific interest.
Other projects include:
Linking captive breeding, trade and conservation in the Southeast Asian region: Several countries in the region are already involved in captive breeding programs for commercial use. Integrating this activity with measures necessary to protect wild populations (including funding surveys and protection) could be a powerful force for conservation.
A long-term goal could be to re-establish viable wild populations and their sustainable use through farming.
Stock pure C. siamensis in crocodile farms: The bulk of the world's captive population is kept on several farms in Thailand where extensive breeding with C. porosus has taken place. Hybrids are preferred because of their superior commercial qualities, but hybridization threatens the genetic integrity of the most endangered species of crocodiles. In addition to the hybrids they are pushing for the production of hides, farms should be urged to isolate genetically pure Siamese crocodiles for conservation.
Survey and conservation of Siamese crocodiles in Indonesia:
The confirmation of the presence of C. As part of Indonesia's evolving crocodile management strategy, siamensis in Kalimantan and Java is a first step towards species conservation.
Thai Folklore:
A Siamese crocodile is mentioned in the folktales of the Krai Thong ("Golden") region of central Thailand and has been adapted into television series and films several times. The story is about a magical crocodi
le named Chalavan ("Chalawan"), which can transform into a human. And captures a woman to be his wife in underwater caves.
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