The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, today presented the Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) conservation and management programme in the Eastern Plains of Colombia, which will be carried out by the Chelonia Association, with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation.

The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, today presented the Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) conservation and management programme in the Eastern Plains of Colombia, which will be carried out by the Chelonia Association, with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation.

The general coordinator of Chelonia, Manuel Merchán, and the coordinator of the Program in Colombia, Antonio Castro, have explained the initiative that aims to preserve this critically endangered species and that, among its actions, includes the reintroduction of specimens in Colombian natural ecosystems, as well as the improvement of the ex situ management of the species.

The project is part of the objectives of the Colombian Government’s National Plan for the species, and has the collaboration of the Forest Conservation and Development Foundation (CDF-Colombia), the Natural Protected Areas Corporation (ANP) and the “Roberto Franco” Tropical Biology Station of the National University, among other institutional support.

The Orinoco crocodile or plain caiman is considered the most endangered crocodile in the world. Overhunting and habitat transformation, coupled with a lack of information about the current status of its populations in the wild, has led the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to classify it as “Critically Endangered”. This project will analyze the situation of the remaining populations in the departments of Meta, Casanare, Vichada and Arauca, in addition to collaborating with the Colombian authorities in the captive management program of the species, with a view to the reintroduction of subadult specimens in natural habitats of the Orinoco basin.

A unique region of the planet
The crocodile is distributed exclusively in the Orinoco Plains, in Venezuela and Colombia. Due to commercial hunting between 1929 and the 1960s, their populations were decimated in both countries. The most recent censuses date from 1993-1996 and estimate a total of just 105 specimens in the freedom, divided into four nuclei. Captive breeding plans began in 1971: currently, there are about 80 adult crocodiles in captivity.

This project addresses the need to strengthen the captive breeding program of the species, while starting with the release of specimens into the wild in those areas suitable for it. At the same time, awareness-raising measures are proposed aimed at promoting, among local populations, policies for the sustainable use of the species that make the measures adopted for its conservation viable in the long term.

The project will be carried out in the Eastern Plains of Colombia, in the Orinoco River basin. The region, which has an approximate area of 260,000 square kilometers, is crossed by large rivers on the Orinoco slope.