Recent investigations of the status and distribution of the Orinoco crocodile Crocodylus intermedius in Venezuela

Abstract

Populations of the Orinoco crocodile Crocodylus intermedius were severely depleted from commercial hunting between 1930 and 1960. Despite reduced hunting over the last 30 years, no substantial population recovery has taken place in Venezuela. Aerial surveys and nocturnal spotlight counts reveal that Orinoco crocodile populations are critically endangered. Small remnant populations remain scattered throughout the former range of the species, mostly in isolated areas where human impact has been minimal. The largest population found during this study was in the Capanaparo River in Apure State, with an estimated 100 crocodiles over 1·5 m long inhabiting a 288-km stretch of river. Smaller populations remain in the Tucupido River and the Camatagua Reservoir. Very dispersed populations survive in other rivers in the llanos savanna region, as well as in certain of the rivers in the heavily forested southern Venezuelan region. A number of factors are contributing to the decline of the species in Venezuela, including deliberate killing and incidental human-related mortality (e.g. drowning in nets), nest robbing and the scale of hatchlings, and habotat destruction. Dense populations of the spectacled caiman Caiman crocodilus have expanded into most of the crocodile's former habitat and may be having a significant role in preventing crocodile population recovery.