Both the caiman and the Orinoco Crocodile are coming back from the brink of extinction, officials say. Less than a century ago, millions of Orinoco Crocodiles and caimans lurked in the vast swamps and rivers of this South American country. After decades of killing by hunters who sold their prized skins to make pocketbooks, shoes and belts, the caiman was a threatened species and less than 10,000 Orinoco Crocodiles were left. Its harvest is a tricky business. Incubated eggs hatch about 70 days later, and the baby caimans raised in pens for a year, when they are released into the wild or within swamp ranches that dot the Apure.
Officials say the process improves the caiman's survival rate.
Most baby caimans are snatched up by hawks, piranha, anacondas, foxes and other crocodiles. Indigenous tribes have long eaten the eggs for protein when food is scarce, and by law they cannot be charged with poaching. It's tradition for them,'' says Jose Garcia, director of Wildlife Protection in San Fernando de Apure, about 190 miles south of Caracas. Though dwarfed by the man-eating Orinoco Crocodile, the caimans still pose a threat. But only the big males are killed by ranchers,'' says Garcia.