AZA Crocodilian Advisory Group's Conservation Efforts
Through the CAG's fundraising efforts,
we have partnered with other crocodilian groups (IUCN
Crocodile Specialist Group, the Wildlife
Conservation Society & the Gharial
Conservation Alliance) internationally to support conservation,
research & education projects. Some of these projects
include:
- Habitat restoration & reintroduction
(including radio tracking) of the Chinese Alligator (Alligator
sinensis).
- Funding of international workshops for
Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis) conservation.
- Habitat surveys for the Malay gharial
(Tomistoma schlegelii).
- Survey equipment for population surveys
of the Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus).
- Funding of travel for crocodilian biologists
to India during the large die-off of the Indian Gharial (Gavialis
gangeticus) in December of 2007.
- Community level education & conservation
programs for the Philippine Crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis).
AZA Crocodilian Advisory Group Grant Application
The mission of the AZA Crocodile Advisory Group is to enhance and promote the preservation and
understanding of the world's crocodilians and their habitats through excellence in education, animal management
and scientific endeavor.
To further this effort, the CAG awards small conservation grants on a rolling basis. A wide variety of projects will be
considered, but field studies and multi-disciplinary approaches to conservation will be given highest priority.
Only in exceptional cases will most travel and administrative costs be funded.
Download the AZA Crocodilian Advisory Group Grant Application
Completed applications can be sent to the
CAG Chair, Kent Vliet at kvliet@ufl.edu for consideration.
CrocFest
Since 2010 CrocFest events have helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for many crocodilian related conservation efforts.
Events are typically held twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter. These fun filled gatherings are usually hosted by
a crocodilian focused facility such as St. Augustine Alligator Farm, Gatorland, Crocodile Manor and more. Guests come for the delicious food and drink, special guest speakers
and demonstrations all capped off by a rousing auction benefiting a specific crocodilian conservation program
For more information on CrocFest please visit their
website and check them out on Facebook.
BACK TO LOS LLANOS by Luis Sigler
Recent successes in the reproduction of Orinoco crocodiles, Crocodylus intermedius, in the US has given rise to the development of a wild population reinforcement and
satellite tracking program that will provide valuable data about the mobilization, habitat use, home range and adaptability of this species, as well as a comparison of results from animals
hatched in the U.S. versus those hatched in Venezuela.
Hatchlings produced over the summer of 2021 at Zoo Miami and at Gladys Porter Zoo will be sent to participating zoos for rearing for a period of 18 months, the young crocodiles will be of sufficient
size to be exported to Venezuela in preparation for eventual release. The Dallas World Aquarium will serve as the exporter of the ~35 animals, and will handle the necessary permits, coordinate receipt
of the young crocodiles from the rearing institutions, and handle the logistics of their shipment to Venezuela.
The crocodile shipment will be received in Caracas by Alvaro Velasco, a long-standing member of the IUCN-SSC Crocodile Specialist Group and chair of the Venezuelan CSG. His team has worked for many years to re-establish
and monitor wild populations of C. intermedius in areas where they were previously extirpated. The crocodiles will be transported to a ranch called "Hato Masaguaral" located in the region of Los Llanos of central Venezuela.
Once primarily a cattle ranch, Hato Masaguaral has, for nearly 50 years, conducted conservation and research, including the first captive breeding program for the head start and release of C. intermedius. While socio-economic
conditions in Venezuela have adversely affected the ranching industry, Hato Masaguaral tenaciously continues to incubate approximately 10 C. intermedius egg clutches (collected by indigenous people) and head starts / releases nearly 200 young crocodiles per year.
After a period of quarantine, the U.S. hatched crocodiles will be joined by an equal number of Venezuelan head starts. Up to forty of them will be fitted with satellite tracking devices prior to their release in the Capanaparo
River at the Santos Luzardo National Park, where they will be monitored by Alvaro Velasco's team for at least a year.
Depending upon the success of the monitoring program and availability of support, the monitoring period may be extended.
Program goals include:
1) Determine the mobilization, habitat use, home range and adaptability of two groups of head started / released C. intermedius (hatched/reared outside of natural range, versus native).
2) Engage the husbandry, logistical and financial support of U.S. institutions in the conservation of C. intermedius.
3) Improve facilities for ongoing incubation / head start / soft release / release of C. intermedius at Hato Masaguaral in central Venezuela.
Siamese Crocodile Relocation
Recently Lonnie McCaskill returned from an emergency trip to Cambodia to assist in the capture and
relocation of a breeding population of Siamese crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis).
Siamese crocodiles are a Critically Endangered species
and with the approval of construction of a hydropower dam in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains, swift action is being taken to help save
an estimated 30 to 40 individuals. With the construction of the dam, many migrant workers will enter the area and strip anything of value from the land, including crocodiles. With
5% of the worlds breeding population residing in the area, immediate action is required to help relocate the rare species.
With emergency funds provided by the CAG, Mr. McCaskill was able to travel to the location and help lend his expertise in the trapping and handling of Simaese crocs.
They are naturally a very wary species and spotting them in the water proves to be difficult much less getting your
hands on one. After 4 days of setting out various styles of traps and much patience, they were successful. The
large male they captured was quickly and safely secured before being transported first by boat, then by truck to his new home. Efforts in this grand endeavor are still taking place
today and will contiune through the end of April 2013, and begin again in November with the start of the dry season. Much more assistance is needed to save as many of these rare animals as possible.
Chinese Alligator
The Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) is a relatively small species, reaching lengths of about 2 meters. It is one of the worlds
most endangered crocodilians. Although they were once widely distributed in Chinas lower
Yangzi River basin, individuals are now restricted to the southeastern Anhui Province. Wild
populations have experienced severe declines, and there may be fewer than 125 adults left in the
wild.
This alligator inhabits the area of climatic transition between subtropical and temperate
regions of eastern China. They are inactive from late October through mid-April in subterranean
dens dug into the edges of ponds, marshes, or rice paddies. Wetlands they formerly occupied
have been lost to agriculture. The few remaining adults have little opportunity to reproduce. In
1999, only four females nested in the wild. Eggs were collected and taken to the Anhui Research
Center for Chinese Alligator Reproduction (ARCCAR), a breeding center established in 1979.
Adults continue to be persecuted. In recent times animals have been shot and poisoned or
displaced from their last refuges by drought and floods.
The CAG manages this animal with long-term goals in place to preserve its genetic diversity. They have also
been involved in habitat restoration and reintroduction. In fact, an estimated 100 babies have been produced from reintroduced
animals on Chongming Island.
Slender-snouted Crocodile
The slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus) is the least known crocodilian in the world with a mere handful of studies
addressing the basics of status, distribution and ecology. It is distributed from the Gambia River in West Africa to lakes Tanganyika and Mweru bordering
the Democratic Republic of Congo (Shirley 2010). Very little is known of the ecology of Mecistops, though what we do know suggests it is a specialist of
forested, freshwater wetland habitats, though in West Africa it can be found in wooded savannah.
Matthew Shirley PhD has spent that last several years in Africa working with these crocodiles and in a recent study has described
described two divergent, allopatric lineages within Mecistops whose distribution correspond to the Upper Guinea and Congolian biogeographic
zones (Shirley 2013). The geography and timing of this split in mecistops is very similar with the pattern seen in both African dwarf crocodile (Eaton et al. 2009)
and the Nile crocodile (Hekkala et al. 2011) where each genera showed a split 8 million years ago at the Cameroon Volcanic Line. Because of this Shirley et al.
(In Prep.) are in the process of describing unique Mecistops species - one in Central Africa and one in West Africa.
The conservation implications of splitting Mecistops into two species are significant. Crocodile population surveys covering 3000 km of crocodile habitat at nearly 200 sites
split evenly between West and Central Africa since 2005 encountered 1,800 individual Mecistops though only 49 confirmed sightings were in West Africa including 23 in the Upper Guinea
region of Ghana, Cote-dIvoire, and Liberia (Miller 2010, Shirley et al. 2009) and 26 in a single national park in The Gambia (M. Shirley unpub. data). Further, only three of the 49 animals
encountered in West Africa were in the adult size class (> 2m total length).
The major threats facing this species include large-scale loss of habitat, illegal hunting for the trade of leather and bushmeat, and conflict with
artisanal fisheries. The latest information (summarized in Shirley 2010) suggests that these threats have resulted in highly fragmented, reduced popluations and, as a result, this species may merit a highter threat
designation of Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable. Reclassification of M. cataphractus into either of these threat categories automatically makes it one of the top 7 crocodilian conservation
priorities globally and the most critical crocodile conservation priority in Africa.
In the late 1980s a group of M. cataphractus was established at the Abidjan Zoo as a breeding colony. This group has grown to approximately 34 individuals, all in breeding size classes, making this not
only the single largest captive Mecistops colony in the world, but also the most significant in terms of long-term conservation impact. The Ivoirian Ministre des Eaux et Forets has recently prioritized
renovation the Abidjan Zoo and, as part of this, identified the value of their captive Mecistops population for both immediate reintroduction and long-term captive breeding for continual augmentation of wild
populations throughout the region. We aim to facilitate the Ivoirian government succeed in this critical conservation endeavor by laying the groundwork for the population augmentation through surveys and capacity
building and helping establish the breeding colony at the zoo through facilities rehabilitation and keeper training.
View the AZA Crocodilian Advisory Group's Regional Collection
Plan
If you would like to make a donation to the Crocodilian Advisory
Group, please contact Emily Maple at emaple@palmbeachzoo.org.
100% of your tax deductable donation goes to Crocodilian Research
& Conservation of the most endangered crocodilian species.
If you need to contact us our email is:
cag@crocodylia.com
