I had heard of an existing crocodile market where baby crocodiles are sold and bought, but the only issue was the markets are not open to foreigners or unknown people coz they are illegal, I had an opportunity to visit one through my boatman who became a good friend of mine and I gained his trust. This baby crocodile which u see in the picture was sold for US $170.
Cambodia is the only country where crocodiles are very sustainable in number. There are more than 1,000 official hybrid breeding centers for baby crocodiles and almost every farmer wants to breed crocodiles. The Chinese, Thai and the Vietnamese poachers and traders buy these Siamese baby crocodiles for their skin, the flesh is again sold for consumption to locals as well as foreigners as the meat is very tender. Farmers readily accept crocodiles brought in from the wild by fishermen, hunters or someone who happens to find one. It is believed that around 50,000 to 60,000 crocodiles have been exported from Cambodia in the last 2 years. The other fear is of hybrid farmed crocodiles, which are crossed between Siamese and the Wild ones brought in from the wild would loose the genetic purity and identity of the few left...
No comments:
Post a Comment