Photo by: Bruce Levick (Phnom Penh Post) Wildlife experts rescue a Siamese crocodile.
April 11, 2011,
PHNOM PENH (AFP) – A critically endangered Siamese crocodile was rescued in Cambodia with a trap designed by late Australian "crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin, but conservationists on Friday said other reptiles remain at risk.
Fauna and Flora International (FFI), which had spent two years planning the attempt to free about 10 crocodiles trapped by the construction of a hydropower dam, said it was
"disappointing" that only one animal was caught.
Rescue workers from Cambodia and Australia tried for weeks to capture the animals isolated in a 750 metre (820 yards) stretch of river in southwestern Pursat province, FFI project manager Adam Starr told AFP.
But just one female crocodile took the bait in the mesh-net trap developed by Irwin, the world-renowned animal expert and environmentalist who was killed by a stingray barb in 2006.
Conservationists said other crocodiles in the colony had sometimes been too wily for Irwin's traps -- swiping the bait without getting caught.
FFI estimates there are just 250 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild, most of them in Cambodia.
The crocodile was transported by helicopter "to a different river 10 kilometres away from the construction site", Starr said
The healthy female, measuring 2.1 metres, has been in her new environment since March 26.
"For everyone on the team, it was pretty disappointing we only caught one female, especially when we know there are more crocodiles there," Starr said.
He added that they were now taking a break from the labour-intensive and expensive rescue mission before considering their next move.
Fauna and Flora International (FFI), which had spent two years planning the attempt to free about 10 crocodiles trapped by the construction of a hydropower dam, said it was
"disappointing" that only one animal was caught.
Rescue workers from Cambodia and Australia tried for weeks to capture the animals isolated in a 750 metre (820 yards) stretch of river in southwestern Pursat province, FFI project manager Adam Starr told AFP.
But just one female crocodile took the bait in the mesh-net trap developed by Irwin, the world-renowned animal expert and environmentalist who was killed by a stingray barb in 2006.
Conservationists said other crocodiles in the colony had sometimes been too wily for Irwin's traps -- swiping the bait without getting caught.
FFI estimates there are just 250 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild, most of them in Cambodia.
The crocodile was transported by helicopter "to a different river 10 kilometres away from the construction site", Starr said
The healthy female, measuring 2.1 metres, has been in her new environment since March 26.
"For everyone on the team, it was pretty disappointing we only caught one female, especially when we know there are more crocodiles there," Starr said.
He added that they were now taking a break from the labour-intensive and expensive rescue mission before considering their next move.
1 comment:
What's a shame, even they were disappeared from thailand,biologist still called them siamese croc.I guest once they were classified and identified by that name,the stupid name becomes so rigid that no one can change right ?.I should not be so hard on biologists,they were not politicians and they ignored politic anyway.But I appreciate French explorer who did not call "Angkor" the "Siamese Cathedral" even though Siam occupied Angkor area at that time.We Khmer should called these crocs "mountain or highland crocodiles". The conservationist in Cambodia should try to be more sensitive about Khmer feeling. (or MY feeling because right now I really hate Siamese.)
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