It’s been a while, crocodile: Eggs discovered in Koh Kong

Conservationists inspect a nest with the eggs of the critically endangered Siamese crocodile near Koh Kong's Preah Angkeo village. Wildlife Conservation Society

Thu, 29 June 2017

Touch Sokha and Jovina Chua

p

The Wildlife Conservation Society has made its first discovery of Siamese crocodile eggs on the Sre Ambel River in Koh Kong province in six years, it announced yesterday in a statement.

According to WCS Communications Officer Eng Mengey, the eggs were spotted by officers patrolling in the area on Monday and have now been moved to a conservation centre to hatch.

“We will take care of them and feed them up to five or six years. We cannot release them into the wild when they are too young as they might face danger, so we wait for them to be mature enough to live on their own in nature,” he said. An estimated 410 adult Siamese crocodiles remain worldwide, making Cambodia, home to between 100 and 300 wild adult Siamese crocodiles, the most important country for the species.

Crocodiles in Cambodia face numerous threats, including poaching, the illegal collection of hatchlings or eggs to supply crocodile farms, habitat degradation and weak law enforcement, such as a lack of regulations on crocodile farming and trading.

“I am delighted to see this Siamese crocodile nest because previously we found only its tracks and dung. This is the first nest . . . found on the Sre Ambel in six years,” In Hul, Fisheries Administration counterpart staff of WCS, was quoted as saying in the statement.