CROCODILES
klc..dlngt of thc loth Worldtrg Meetiry of th. CmcodiL Spccialbt G.oup ol &c Sp€d6 Surviral CoDmisslon of IUCN . The World CoNervadol UDIoD
cooven€dat
Grln svtuc' Florirls, US-A.23 to 27 April 1990
Volud! 2
0jrcditcd .nd UntFiccd)
ruGJ - Th. woild Coffitid U.i6
AsE 1990. plcedings IAutho4. [Anicte ride]. pp. lnunbe6i. In Cuodites. o{rhc rorh working Mectingofrhe CModile Sp€.i.list Grcup, IUCN - The Wortd Con*frriod Uhio,, cr.nd, Switrerland, Vorume 2, ISBN 2332tu02!X vi + 95 p. Celdilc pMccdirgs SF.iali$ cop. l99O_ CMrdilq. of rhc 10rh Worting Mccring ot $c Ceodite Sp.ciatist (i.oup, - IUCN Th. Wodd Co@frrion Union, cted, Swifzcrland, Votunc 2. ISBN 233274023-X vi + 34j p - (c) 1990IUcl.{ Int dation.l Udon fo. thc Crns€Mrion or Naturc and Natuat Relous6 R.produ.tid of rhir lubri@iion for ed!€rionar .n,i olhcr nonedh€Ei.l purpG.s is aurhonrcd withour p.misd trcn thc .opyright p@ided bold.., lh. ouEc is citcd and rh. @prright holdcr r.cciv.. 6py oi rhc rcprcducd turcnzt R.prcd*ti@ ad tulc o. orh.r @mncdiaj puipGs i5 prchibitcd sithout prio! wirten p.misid ot th. opFight hotdc. ISBN 2S327{02}X Publi$ld bt rucN/ssc cqo knicra, Alsjadro. A prog.amof doditorirg aadreovcriq of Cainaa'spopulatioE in Argcatiaa witb thc ain of DaDagcmcol Litdc, Pcry L Elogcnousvitamin C for captiE p.opagahdaligatori McDalicl, trdEiq ard LiddscyEord" Spc.ializedaquipncnt andtecbaiqu.s us€d i, aligatof n.n,gcncDl andrescarch...... __.....-*...._..._,,, Mas6cl H" aad F. Waync KiDg The status of Ct*odyhts por@ls n the SoLolrotrIslands...... -...... Morpurgq B. G" GearFhu and B. Robirzoa FoodFcfcrcocc and fish attradabnftyin young llilc crocodilc. m Mos€g Richa.d D, and Robcrt Chabrc& Trarsportatio! and artificial incubation ofAdencar afligato.cggs..--....-. 81 Otsric4 TiEothy C. A coEpariso! of3 suvcy oethods for estimatingrelatirc abuadaaceof rar:e qocodilians. Pachcco,Luis F. Fccdiog, rcproduc{iod ard g.oltth'm (,lpnve Melanofllcha, nlger...... 109 Poolet Tony. Basic ciocodile fafinin&/ratchirg Eethods h reDote ata:Ii...... ,...... 123 Rath, Rf, S!'igh LAIC atrd S. Kar. Wo.l plan for crocodiliar marageeent in Oriss4 Iadi4 during 19G-195. S.rhDltc,Dara M" ad Robcrt tt Chabrc-cLEfrects of rcst andegg characterirtics on sizeand carly derclo!'dctrt of Aocricao aligafofi. tn Saqr-,SI, andIra AJa Siryh. Rchabilitatiotrof Muggcrcrocodile (Opcodyru pahrs'.ir)i^ SiDilipal Tiger P!€serq,,O.iss4 India 188 Snitlo, Cl' andJ. Matatu Crocodilcfarmi4 ia SouthA.&ica- Thc impactoffannhg techrclog, on pioductionc6cictrcy. 2nr Staro4 Mart A- Lalry McNcas.,Irisa Ttcriot rnd Ted Joar.r. pelletizcdallicator feed:ar updatc.--..--.------...... -...... --_- Stato., Mart A", B.ian VerDoD,crcg Mitchel andRalph Sigap. proccssingyiel& ftom famed (rofldil€a (Auodyha po'ostrta d,Creodthts novaeguiteau) ftoE papuaNew cuitua...... Sraynghao,Thonar, Sout[ Carolidaaligator prograE updatc. n9 Vcrdadc,IJciano M" ardAbel lavo.edi Prelibinary sote.son thc statusand consorratiotr of einar laimstit tn the Statcof SaoPaulq Braziu DircclioB of thc captivcbrc€di!& rcirtroduction aDdEanagcocrt progr:u[ Waitlumit, Wof-Etbhard. Thc establishnflt of thc 6tst Eajor crocodilebrc.ding c€der rn Wc€rAiic5" a l|l Waeo! P.A" L Ef.rts of bl.l.g o! Nilc qdib, C!uoitts nilotia!t, 24 Wcttlr, Ctaiasc J.W" S. Ctatlic Manoliaand Haney Coopcr-Prc,*otr"CrocodiL 6.n,g.pctrt aadrc*arcl ir thc Northcm Tcrritor!. 19{38-90. Wilct, EN" addMilc Jdrdtrgs" Aa olcrvicw of alligatoroanagcmcat in Florid,a" Zlbcr, A. Y. Yoa-Tov.d D. M. Popper.Thc eficd of high tcnlp.atutc and incrcarcdday lcogthoo growthad suvival of captiE Mc ('o(.d;lc, Owodih/s nildictlt, &Eirg thc cold scasooia K€[]'4. Zlbcr, Aricl Daa lv! Poppe.aad Yoram Yon-Tov. Thc cficd of stocLiry deDsityod t[c suflival groqth andbody condirioo of captivcNrlc cIoc{diJc, Cr@odih6niloticus...... -...... ,2E8 Zlbcr, &ic! Yoram YoD-Tov andDd! lvl. Poppcr. Ttc cficxt of light regiDrcand tcfrpc.atuc oo thc growthrate, suwi L andbody cotrditioD of youig captivcNile Crocodilg Oocodrlro niloticLs. 7t .ng Zb.oSdolg ard Hralg Zhuiiaa. Thc rclatioc bctsc.n thc growthof rcigbt ard length *ith ttc cmrviatioosof the ]'ourg aligatorabcforc hibcrnatiotr a2 lvorl.3hop! Workhop oo tradein cocodilian products" SuD-Eaiiesof presentatio$and trade statistics. Coopiled andedited by citrettc H€m]ey Richad Lumorc. Intc.latioral crocodiliansE! trade Trcndr ald sorirces,...... T2 Dictric.hJcld€!. Updatc on rcgulatioD!:Hory irtcrnational rlrlcs arc changin& 306 Giicttc HeElcy, |llcC Fade i! crocodiliarslirs Currcrt probleo arcas 308 Pctcr Brazaiti& Illcgal t'a DooAshlcy. Monito.idg tools:How far do wc go? Joh! Bachc-Aurralisr crocodilcstitr Drodudiotr1988-1989. Grcg Mr.hcll Papu. Ncw Guidcacrocodiliar stir p.oductiotr1988-1989. 314 JotrHutoo Afticaa Mlc qocodilc slir produdior 1990-199L 315 Ted --oaacr-A.lligator farn productiooitr tbc Udted Statcs1989-190. 3t7 DonAblcy. Marka productiooaad the IACIS rcview. 3ta NoboruIshii Global Eartct pcrspa{aivcs:Jrpana$ Earkct idplicatioEsof spcci6 andsizc clals $,ngc( h thc crocodiliant adc. Kcvh V.atrJaars!€ldt (for Philipe Roggwiler). clobal marker perspectir€$ Europ€atr market rmplc3uotrs ot speoesand s|ze chs6 changesin the crocodiliartmd€. .------''''''''___...... ,...... 321 D"vlg Hdt. Global market persp€ctivesrU.S. market implications of speciesard size class cha.igesin the crocodiliatrtrade...... ,,,,,,,,,,,, ...... 328 Toshio Yamana-ka.The trade itr other exotics:Their effect on the aocodilian market;liard, snake, Kevin van Jaarsveldt. The tlade i! other €xotics:Their effect on the crocodiliatr market ostrich Dave Durland. The trade in other c{otics: Their effect on the qocodiliatr market; ostrich and elepha.nttrade h the USA...... ,,...... ::+ B. C. Choudhury. Indian oocodil€ coDservationsituarion report: Action platr for the 1990,s...... ,....337 FOREWORD lte tc,o volufics of ttir PRocEDrNcs are a rccord of thc presontatiodsard disculsio!6tlat ocorrrcd at tho 10thWo.tiry Me.ti4 of &c CrocodilcSFcialist croup i! cairc{vilc, Florid4 [J.SA.B - n April 1990,Thc Drnulcripts arc uorcvic*cd anduaciitcd. Ttc CSGpRocEEDFrcs, by de6nitio!, ate rcrords ol whaf ocoErcd at thc ncatilg. Ttey arc not tom€s6lled sitf, atticlasthat vcrc ditiquc4 editcq revisc4 ard polishcdsubd€qu€rt to thc m€€tiD&Apart froo prepariDga table of coracnaEcuF and-p'.iing caf'tionsto 6gurcs, coopilirg tho articlasalphabctically by aurhor,.nd mberiry thc pagc,3coDrcautivcly, thc papcrr arc publi6hcdjusf thc way aheync.c subofutei" For thir rcaso!, thcy apFar in a rariety of fornaai asd typcfacc,LJamcs Pcf,ran Ro6s v.s thc managirgcditor. The opinionsoercss€d hercin arc thosc of t[c individualautbora ard are not tbe oDitrionsol ruCN - The World C.oDseryarionUdoo, or it! SFcics Survir"l Coomissioo. ruCN - Thc World CoDr€ryatio!Udion wa5foud€d h 194E,ard has its hradquancrsin Clrn4 Ssitza.la!4 it i! an indcpcodentintdnafional bodywho6c ncmbcship conpriscs sratsi (irrcsFctivr of thcir political ald social systeEs),gwcr!f,eDt depanEeots,ard privatc iDstitutio8, ar eEll as inG.natiodalo.ganizatiol4 It rqrrascatsthola vho arc cofteraed about Ean's modiificatiorof tle utural elvirotrme througi tbc rapidity of utbat and industrial d€v€lopaent ard thc €lc€ssive exploitatioDof the earth'strdural resourccqupon wiich rest tha foundatioosof his suwir"al ruCNs main purDoscis to promotc or supportactiod which will ensurcthc pcrpetuationof wild traturc and latural rcsourccso! a *orld-wi& basiEnot only for &eir intriDsiccultural or scicntificvalucs but also for the lorg-t€rE economicand social welfarc of maatiod. Thfu objcrtivc can b€ achicEd throwh aditr co.servationprogra.ms for the wise lsc of mtural Esourc€sin arcas*icre the flora and faula arc of panicular importanccand *hcre the landscapeis €spe.ialy bc{utiful or strikhg or of Lisrorical adtu.al, o. scientiEcaignificancc. ruCN b€lievcsthat its aim! canbc aclievcd no6t cficdirely by itrtcrtrltional efrort in coopcratioawit[ other international .gtcir., sucha! UNES@, FAq alld UNEP, and htcnr.tional o.gadzariolj, suc! a6Wo.ld Wid6 ftmd for Naturc (nWD. Thc mission of ruCNs SpecicsSurvival Comnirsion (SSC) is to preve[t the crcincioa of species, subsFci€s,and discrete populatiols ol fautraand flora, thcrebydaintaitiDg the gqrcdc diversityof the livirg .csourcasof thc planct To carry out its niisio!, tic SSC.elie,s on a detwork of ov€r a5m voluntc€rprofclsiolals worling tbroughmorc tban 90 SpecialistGrouF atd a large duaber of affiliale @garizations!rcgional rcprcscatativc,r, ad co!6ulta!t5,scattercd throwh &arly evcry couatryof thc eorld. montEor].n cove! t rons Arqen a wlt a i![ Alej andro I/ARRfERA Boulevard Pellegrini 31OO (3000) - Santa Fe ARGENTINA The north of ou! countly is tlre southeln limtt of the geographical distribution for two specles of caj.mans hj.storically overexptoj.ted eithe! legalty or 11l,egally, We are ta.lkrng about caiman latLrost!is and Caiman yaqare. The dist!ibutlon area fo! C.Iatirostrrs (Apendi; I cIfES), involves lhe provinces of MiEiones, Corrlentes, Entre Rj.og, Formosa, Chaco, Santa Fe, Santiago deI Estero,salta and Jujuy, up to 32 south Latitude. Fo! C. yacare (Apendix II CITES) the genelal alea is coincident bui j-t seerns .o .r.rr. a hj.ghe! concentratlon in the area of the count.ry noE further 9otn9 the 30 south Latj.tude. Anylray it is possible that provinces in many pl.aces of this ,here these species were commo!1,they have totally disappeared. Even though rt does not exist any population study as regards j.t this fact, is obvious that the numerj.ca] lelrocessj-on of the Argentine caimans has becone drarnatic in the l-ast yea!, although j.n certaj.n areas farrly abundaot populati.ons of one or othe! species can be foind as C. latj.rost!is in Chaco and Santa Fe o! C. yacate in Corrientes, in places that are not visj,ted by hunters ej.the! because they do oot know the place or due to its difficulty t.o arrive. Although fortunately, the ill-egal trade of both speqres up to noli i.s very not encouraged due to the i.;creasing applicatj,on of CITES at wolLd LeveJ., it iE also a fact that Che caplures continue in the forest, and thj,s couLd get lrorse with lhe pernj,ssion of guota€ to export skins in bordering countries, whj.ch could direct argentine ptoducts, due to budgetary and stluctural diff,iqu],tieg in puOfic agencies to contlol eithe! furtivism or fronliers. In addition to this, !,,e have Ene constant modification of habitat, favored by the lack of massive carnpaigns o! infolnatj.on as regards importance and potentl.ality of the !esourqe. It is mj.nj,malthe benefj.t that carmans blig to locaL inhabi.tants because. even though thei! neat i; edibLe and tasty 1t i.s not a usual dish in their dj,et and as reqards their leather the retribution ls mini.mal because there is not a market pllce, Sunming up \dhat haee been aLready mentioned, we j.f can say that this present situation goe€ on, ft is hi.ghly probable that the popuLat.ions of caj.nans in ArgenErna qont.inue belng exploited till its near extj.ngui shnent, benefitting only a fei{, and without any plofit for wild populations, tocal inhabi.tants or the countly. I9ORKPROPOSAL The management of anj.naL's 1j.fe under their diffelent modalities, is in genela1 the most feasi.ble altelnative to ensure the preselvation of these species. In no lray it will be feasible to keep endlessly lestrj,ction to th; use of i{j,Ld fauna, while at the sane time, huftan needs increases. This programme proposes a management alternative for cairnans whj.ch could be defroed as "SeLf_repopu.Lat]'on by Ranching with populatj.on monitoling of ienaency,,. Ii basically consists of j.dentifyin; caimans popu.lations, evaLuate them j.ndex wibh of relatj.ve densr-ty and appty the Ranchj.ng System, leplacing to their eivi.ronment at L possible specimens at nine nonth of age, nonitorrng the inpact of this experience on the populatron under d iscus sio.!. A_progranne like the one proposed in based on the a\dareness of the actual pogsible avaitabil,ity of neans and people, and what lt 1s even more inpartant, the potential. use that is going to given be t.o the infolmation got, in such sense it must be consrdered that: 1 ) Due to its actual volume and the populatlon statuE it is !ldiculous to think of a direct expioitation i"o.."r"r", hunting) in Argentina. 2) It is no posslbLe to start Ranching works, derivlng flom the bbginnj.ng e99s to the marl GENERALMETHODOLOGY the. sel f -repopula t ion program has three lrelI differencrated work Lines that nevertheless nust hatmonize perfectty and EhaE can weLl 'I be roughly defined asi ) Monj.toring to evaLuate Ene population 2) idenrj.flcation tendency. ^Nest ."d .;e"-;;;;J"ar'in-r=""ii. ,""" influence of the monltorj,ng alea. ", hatchlng il-1.:1t-:n:." and controLted nultulios of tne Dorn up lo their fleeino- lust 1 ) In order Eo monitore the populations j,n lhe chosen sanpling aleas, night counting shall be carried out irith high poeer lj.ghts from a small boat durj.ng three consecutive days in each alea and the information shal,l, be recorded accoldin9 to the characteristics of the place as anj.ma.Lper Irnear ki.Iometer !n (culrent's f lorr) or animals per hectare in lagoons o! marshy lands. Envl,romenc temperature, water temperatqle, direction and speediness of wind and I19h conditions shalL also be recorded. When possible, the size and species of the anina]s shalL be lecorded. Two visits each yeat shall be carried out to each area of the sampling, one j.n Novembe! (Decemoer to oEner one In Febluary) March. Before beginning lrith the plogramme In the months of September/October we are going co make a practrse vtsit in order t.o define the observaEron ci!cui t. 2) When making the frlst visit for nonitoring in each area Ehe oests shalL be ldentified i.n ,rhat !,re shall calL "influence area" of monitoring. this ineans lhat they mugt be wj,thin the alea in guestion, or near enough j,mpact to nake an on the counted populatj.on. when rnaking the second vj.sit eggs shall- be halves ted, narking them by nesc anO recolding the amounts of eggs, date and exact placement of Che nest. The harvested eggs shal] be moved in plastic bowls and shall be protected from excessive tenperatures up to thelr arrj.val to the provlncj-al, RanchLng station. 3) Each province shall have a ranching slation i.n which e99s halvested for its hatching at 30/32 C lrith a humj.dity of 95? shall be received. The just born anj.mals shall- be marked by nest and shaLl live in cllmatized environmenE with a temperature gradient of 25 C, to 33 C. Feeding thall. given be ad ]j.bitum three tineE a !,reeks and shaLl consist of meat and bovine viscera, river fish and conventional baLanced food for carnivotous. adding vitamins, nlneraL supplements. When going lhe second yea, to the sanpling alea (first visit), the feasible individuals shall be freed rn the exact point of harvest. In this moment the cycl-e begins agarn. GENERAL PURPOSE As a codcl,usion a program lj,ke thLs must ansver this Enree essential guestion s: the .anching 1l ls helpf,ul to lecover cairnan,s populations?- 2) It is possible to derive to co,nmercial ciranneLs a percentage of the harvested eggs? 3) If so, nhich is the percentage. that allows tg exploit caj.mans, keeping a rate gf population recoverv? ACI(NOWLEDGIiIENT f 'rant to tell thanks to Dr, Obdulio Menqhi from CITES , Dr. Jorge Cajal from Direcci6n Nacional- de Fauna Sl,lvestre , Dr. Juan Villalba !.,tacias and Mr. todas WalLe! (Sudarne!ica) fron TRAFFIC for hi.s encouragenent and suggestiong. r want to tell thanks too to the runaact5n Esteban Astort for the soupporting of first part of the studv, Exogenous Vitamin C for Captive propagated Altigaeors Perry IJ. Little Division of Agricultural ScienceE p.O. Box 2088 - SHSU Euntssville, TX 1134I INTRODUCTION Vitanin C (L-ascorbic acid) is synthesized 1n sufficient amounts fo satisfy tshe needs of rnost non- primate animals, yet it is generally included in the diets of captj.ve alligators j.n rather large amounts (McNeaEe and Joanen, 1981; Staton, 19gT) . the more primj,tive species of birds (callj.formes, Anserifornes, etc.) have been shown to synthesize vitami.n C in the kidneys whi-le sorne species (passeriformes) produce the vitamin in Ehe liver only. ye! a few species appear tso be unabLe to slmthesize the wiEamin at all (Chaudhuri and Chatterjee, 1969) . Most fishes appear to sl'nthesi.ze vitamin C, but some cannot. Channel cat.fish, salmon, and trout require the addiCion of rather high 1eve1s of ascorbi.c acid co prevent scolioEis and Lardosis. (Halver, L972; Lo.qe:-L, 1973). Ibowledge of the vitanin C requirement in the diet of the aLligator and/or the abilj-hv of lhe all.ioator E.o slmthesize this vi.tamin is relevant since ascor-bic aci.d functions i.n collagen slmthesis and may contribute !o better quality hides. Ascorbic aci-d has been shown co fuIrction in the formation of procollagen and is nece€sary for tshe biosynthesis of collagen and cartilage, tissue fortnaEion and repaj.r and calcification of bone {titn and Lovell, 1978). Ascorbate has been reported to be the reducing agen!, involved in the hydroxylation of prol.j.ne and lysille in the formatj.on of collagen and cartiLage (vtiLson and poe, 19?3). This study was undertaken to determine the need for supplernental dieEary vitami! C when alligators are fed a diet consiscing of variouE aninaL by-products and minerals. Materials anal Methods Thirty-two alligators, hatched in August 198?, were tsaken from Che wild at the J. D. Mulphee wildlife Refuge near Port Arthur, Texas on October L, L9S1 . The animals !'rere kept together j.n tsemperature controlled pens at the Sam Houston State Utiversity poultry Center. they were fed ground frozen nutria during the adjustrnent period. On December 4, 1987, they were individual.Ly tsoe-tagged, weighed and measured (total lengtsh and heart.-girth) and distsributsed randomly inlo laJo adjacents pens of, equal sizer 16 animal.s per pen. The 8'x16' concrete floored, p1l&ood enclosed living quarterg were apportioned into equal dry and wets areaE witsh a water depth range of 5-10 cm in each pen. The water temperature in eaqh pen was rnaintsained at. about 30 alegrees CeLsius by circulating !'rater tshrough pipes from a Lalge gas water heater. A basal diet formulated from all-dry processed nutsrientss (Table I) mixed witsh water tso nake a stiff dough was fed with nutria until the aninal-s were gradually converted Eo the 54 percent crude protsein formulated dlef. Tabl.e I. Composition of the basal die!. Ingredientss Percent Blood neal 10.0 Dextrin 6.0 Dicalcium phosphate 3.0 Feather roeal 30.0 Fish neal 10.0 ce1atsi-n 2.5 Mineral mi.x (Jones & FoEler ) 2.0 Poultry by-products meal 30.0 Sodium chloride 0.3 vitsamin pre-mix 7.2 Total 100.0 Prehension and deglucition of this tl4)e of feed by alLigators presented a problen. A workable solution was found by mixj,ng the dry powder - like feed wich water !o a sgiff-tlouqh and pressj.ng its down oo a tray lhen cutsting i! intso smaLl bitse-sized squares and piling ig upon the tsray for feeding. Animalg in each pen rrere fed the gane dry weights of feed. About 2 hours after feeding a1l the water was drained from Che pens, tshe area cLeaned and fiLLed wiEh warm freEh erater. on ,fanuary 26, 1988 ten (10) alirnals from each pen were picked at random and were checked wieh a ful,l"- length dorsg - veniri,cle x-ray for evidence of skelegal abnorrnaLity. .tanuary 28, 1988, aL1 ani,mals were weighed aod measured as before and 3 m1. of blood waE drawn from the _heart for analyEis. The animaLE were then placed on their respectsive experj.mental diets. AninaIE in Den 1 received the basal diets (Table I) while those in ;en 2 were fed the same ba9a1 diet plus added ascorbic ac-id at 1,000 rng/kg. The leve1 of ascorbic acj-d added was ecrual tso the vitanin C presents in a commerciatly prepared vitamin prenix sold to alligato! farrners in tne region (Table rI) . Table II. Cornnercialty prepared vitamin premix sold to aLligaEor farrners in Ehe region less vitanin C. SPECIFICATIONS TJNITS Vitamin A 1,800,000.000 Tn Vitamin D3 200,000.000 Vitamin E 5, 000. 000 Ri.boflavin 1,000.000 Pantothenic Acid 2,160.000 mg. Niaci-n 4. s00 Choline Chloride 86.433 Vitamin B12 Folic Acid 90.000 mg. Biotin 20.000 Pyr j.doxj.ne H!'drochloride 1,000.000 Menadione Soalium Bisulf i-te 4, 283. 000 mg. Thi.arnine Mononitrate 1, 000. 000 5. 000 Fed ats 1.2t of tshe diet. the animals were weighed and neasured as before on March 4, April 15, and ifune 1, 1988. The sa$e animals tshaE were x-rayed and sampled for blood analygis initialty qrere again x-rayed and thei.r blood sanple€ anaLyzed again a! tshe lerminalion of the study. At this ti-me, the tip€ of the tailE from 5 aninais in each treatment were excised alld frozen in Liquid nitrooen for hisEological cornparisons. Analysis of variance using the general linear model procedure (Statistj-cal Analysis Sys!ens, 1979) was applied Co all daua at lhe 95 percents confidence level. Duocans Multipl-e Range Test' wag uged a9 a means separatsion procedure. ReEultg aDd DiscugEioD The data obtained unaler the condieions of tshis study showed no evidence thats the American alligator (A1lioatsor mississippiensj.s) benefitged in any way by the additj-on of L-ascorbic aci-d at 1,000 mg,/kg tso a 54 percent crude protein diet consiECing prirnarily of processed anj,mal by-groducts. There was no significants tlifference in vilanin C blood plasma 1ewels of L- ascorbj-c acid 9uplrleneoted alligacors over contsrols (Tab1e III). One may conclude tshat excesg vj.Camin C is readily removed by the kidneyE and thae al]j.gatorg are probably capable of, slmthesizinq sufficient vi tamj.n C to maintsain a relati,ve hemeogtati-c 1eve1 of the vitamin 1n the blood or that this particular diet contained hj-gh enough 1eve1s of the viEanin that it did noC becone 1itnitsing to alligator growth and development. the latster is not like1y Eince losEes of aEcorbj-c acid activity due to processing tsechniques of animal by product feed ingredientg is known t'o be excesEr.ve (Hi.l.ton et aL L977 ) . Tab1e III. Mean plasma vicamin C levefs of alfigacors as affected by supplenentation with vita$in c. Treatnents t/28/88 6/r/88 nS,/dt------control 1,.9429 Vitamin C 2 .2500 Higcological exanination rewealed no norphologic expresEions of a vitsamin C deficiency as described in man and guinea pigs (Fo11is, 1958) in any of the animals obgerved in this gests. ExanpleE fron specimens exhibited in Figures 1-4 shov, no morphol,ogic abnornali tsy in the connective tissues of the vertebrae of alligators fed diets wiEh no added viEamin c. The skelegal radiographs showed no evidence of laralogis or scoliosis in any of the 20 aninals x-rayed. There !,rere no abnornalities detsected io any of lhe in!erce1lu1ar gubstanceg such as co11agen, osteoid, alentine or vascuLar endoCheLium. There vrere no differenceE in the skeletal structure of anv of tshe animals x- rayed at tshe beginning (Figure 5) o-r at the end of the study (Figure 5) . Awerage weight gains, heart girth, and tsotal lengtsh of alligatorE were not significantly different over the 125 day experinental. period (Tab1e fV). Tables V, Vf. and VII show the average wej.ghts, total body lengfh, and heartsgirth respectj-ve1y, at the various dates o f neasuretnent, There was no indj,cation of elevated plasma cholesterol and/or triglyceride levelE of aninals in thj.s experiment as reported by Hil.con et aI., (197?) in vilamin C deficient salmon fish (Tables VIII and IX). table IV. Mean treartsgirtsh, botsa1 length, and weiglrt increase over the 125 day experimenfal peliod. t wf ------cm------ 8.14 23.1r Vitami.n C 1306.96 Table V. Mean weight of a1li9ator6 as aff ected by supplementation with vitalrtill c. Treatmenb L/28/88 3/4/88 4/!5/88 6/L/8e '144.AA Control 4'13.94 7!96.41 Vitamin C 450.31 520.80 10?5.07 10 Table VI. Mean length of alligatorg as affected by supplenentation witsh vitamin C. Treatment L/25/88 3/4/88 4/rs/58 6/7 /88 control 56.894 1),.081 80.500 Vitamin 80.700 Table vII. Mean heartsgirtsh of alligators as affected by supplementation with vitsanin C. TreatmenC 7/ 28/48 3/4/88 4/ls /ea 6/L /88 27.0'733 Vitamin C 13.8000 14.4661 1?.4333 20.5200 Table VIII. Mean blood plasma cholesterol of alligabors aE affected by suppLetnentatsion of vitafiin c. Date r/28 /85 6/L/88 Control 96.630 Vi.tami-n C 109.430 205.000 Table-IX. _Mean blood plasma triglyceride of alligaEors aa affected by supptementation $rith Vitanin C. Treatmenl 7/28/88 6/t/ 88 tng/dl------ Control 50.750 Vi.tanin C 10.193 52.1IO These findings appear tso indicate tbats captive reared alLigators do not require an exogenous supply of vitamin C ats tshe 1eve1 provided (1000 rng/kq) in this experiment, and tend tso supports the [email protected] lhat alligators can slmthesize sufficient Vitarnin C endogenously or that the basal diet used in thig study contsaj-ned sufficient levels to meet the needs of Ehis vitamin by the alligator. References Chaudhuri, C.R. and I.B. Chatterjee. 1959. L-Agcorbic acid slmlhesis in birds: phylogenic trends; Scj-ence ro{: {J)-4JO. FolIis, Richard H, Jr. 1958. Funclion & srructure changes in malr[nalia hrhich result. from exhogeoous or endogenous lack of one or nore essential nutrients .ln Deficienc.v Diseases, pp. 175-195. Charles C Thonas, Pub.Springfield, I]J. Halver, J.E. 1972. Tha Vitanins, pp. 29-103. In J.E. Halver ed. Fish nutritsion. Acadeni.c press. New york. Hj-1Eon,J.W., C.Y. Cho, and S.J. Slinger. 7971. Pactors affeccing the stability of supplemental ascorbic acid in practical trout diets. ,t. Fj-sh. Res. Bd. Can 35:683 - 687. Lim,C., and R.T. Lovell. 19?8. Patholoav of the vitamin C deficienqy slmdrome in chann;I carfiEh (ictalurus ounctaEus). Nutr. 108: 1137-1146. Lovell, R.T. 1973. Essentiatity of Vitamin c in feeds for intensively fed caged channel catfish. Nubr. 103: 134- 138. McNeaEe, L. and T. Joanen. 1981. Nutritsion of alligatorE. Alligator Producers Confereltce. Gainsville, Florida. Statistical- Analysis SyEtens {SAS) UEer,s Guide. 1979- SAS Incorporated. , cary, N.C. Staton, M.A. 1941. Personal Cormunication. poultry Science Department University of ceorgia, Athens. wj.lson, R.P. anal Poe, w.E. 19?3. Inpaired coltagen formatsion in the scorbuti.c chalnel catsfish. Nutr. 103: 1359 - 1354. Fio. 1. TX 5633, alligator fed no viCamin C. Transverse section of a tail vertebra. The Large whit.e space at top is tshe spinat cana1. The spinal cord is the dark ellipsoid structure. Below the canal is the cart.ilage nodel destined to become the body of that vertebra. At horizontal rrhite arrows are growth plates which fonn the ventral- part of the vertebral body. The tsi-ssue surrounaling the vertebra is crosE-sectioned muscle tissue. Note Ehat the cartilaqe is stained deepty basophilic with henaroxylin. !l&!i. x z5- 14 Fra. 2. TX 5531- This is the area at Lhe lefE white arroir of Fig. 1 at higher resolution. The cartilage ce11a are developing nornal1y. They becorne ballooned and are penetratsed by vessels. Ab oblique arrow heads are nornal and abundant osteoblagtss. At vertical arrow head is an ogteoid sealn. Reerytshing is normal. H&E, x 180. 15 Fio. 3. TX 5548, al-tigalor fed no viEamin C. The pictsure shows the lower part of the cartilage nodel degtined Co becone the vertebral body. Convelsion of cartilage into bone is well under way. The degenerating cartilage ce1ls are pale, the ce11s enlarqe and become penetraeed by blood vessels. Bone is formed by osteoblasts (in front of arrow heads) . the osteobtasts are abundant and nortnal. This is a normal pictsure. H&8, x 180. 16 Fio. 4. TX 9460, aLlj-gator fed no vitamin C. The picture of the vertebral body shows plenty of bone trabeculae. Under polarized light, these trabecul-ae exhibit normal absorbance of birefringent light: the collagen in bone is normal. This is a nornal picture. H&8, x 110. polarized light exposure. 17 r:::lll..1 of lwo alligators made (1/26/gg) previously fed n- ubria a Eig---..1q- x-ray of the same two auirnals shown in Figure 5 fiade l6/L/a8) at Ehe t'ermination of Ehe test. A tl.pical alligator from pen l fed the basal diet wiEh no added vitanin C. A bt4)icat animaL flon pen 2 fed the basaL dier with added L-ascorbiq aci-d. 19 Sp€c1a11z6d Equlpuen! end Technlquos U3cd ln Alll.tecor llanet€Dent end Research BY: Jimle UcDanle1 Gane and Fresh Wager Fish Co@ission 620 South l{erld1an Stleer taLlahassee, FL 32399.1600 AND Llndsey Hord Cane and lresh Water Flsh CoDrtrisslon 3991 Sourheast 27 Court okeechobee, FL 34972 Allltators occu! lr! hebicals that are often inaccessl.ble and inhospirable to oan and theli irarl.ness and ablllty to subDerge when threatened necessitates the use of speciallzed equlpoent and rechniques Co caprule CheD. The pulpose of chls presetrraclon is co fa.ol11artze che reader l,lrh soBe of che rechniques and equipDenc used by the Florida ca-me and Fresh Water Fish Coenis€l.on (Co@ission). Alchough nany of che tools and techniques rre use ate also used by crocodlllan bioLogists lrotldwide, we trope sone of oul. nodificaci.ons l'ill be of use to oth€rs. AIRBOATS Alllgators lnhabit nost netels of the staCe, ranging frotr shallow energenr oarsh co deep open !'ate! lakes and livers, However, nuch of an alligator biologistrs €fforcs are concentrated in shallow rate! and eoetgent oarsh. Outboard oocors and t)rplcal boats requhe at leest 24 inches (61 cn) of unvegetated rater to operate. Atrboats, on the oche! hand, requlte vircually no iraEet depth end can tl|atrsit dense eo€lgenc Darsh Chat lrou1d be virtualLv lopassible to en oulboeld. Alrboats cone ln tlro basic q.pes, elther Detsl or flberglass hulled l'lch an autonotive o! eilcraft tlpe engine, Itu1l lentth norDally verles froD 11-1g feet elth the €:atreDe beLog 36 feet (11 n) long, tel.r-engine !ou! boats operatint in che Everglades that can traasport 40-50 people. The pulcheser of an airboat shoulal oatch the hul1 and engine Eype, huII lengrh, horsepolrer, anal rittint co his needs. g1O,5OO Prices range froo for a 12 foot fiberglass bost lrirh a 150 hp al.rcrefc enSine and r!sj.1er to g18,5OO for an 18 foor flberglass hull r'lch a 300 hp airclafc englne and trailer. l{etal hu11s are gen€lal1y nole expenslve. Posslbl€ optlons that Dey iDcrease your efflcleacy a!e: po1)|ne! botcoos (decrease drag), tool boxes, tlin tabs (boa! . haddllng), sprayers (decreese drag), hou! neter, tachoDeter, grass rake, bilge purlp, engine cowllng (engine cooling), seat covers, dlop axles (loading and unLoadlnt), suboersible clailet lights, electrical ourlets, dual bacteries, battery swlcch, large capaeicy fuel tank (40 ga1.), and dual seats, SOURCES Apache Airboals Coobee Alrboacs 700 N. E. 4th Street P.0. Box 570 Okeechobee,FL 34972 Lake Haoilcon, FL 33851 Ricky Lightsey Janes Conbee 8L3/763-2326 8L3/439-52s8 Hoffnen Airboats ailboars unli[lted Inverness, IL Rt. 5, lox 1115 Dick HoffDan Bainbridte, CA 31717 904/726-7677 9L2,/246- 5760 ELECTRONICS IrrCercoDs l'e pridarily use alrboats to conduct night-Iight sutweys, however, lhe high nol,se level prevedls notual conveagatlon betueen the drlver snd passenger. Intercons ate used glthout to overco[e thLs paoblerr. an interco[, tlro skl.lled persons are needed, one to opetate the boat and on€ to collect deta. t{l,rh cho use of .m lntercoo, the boat operator can elso coLlecE &!a and transDlt lt !o the passenger, rho ls requlred only Co recold the data. two types of itrCercoEs are in une by CodDlssion alligator blologlsts. The nosr coDEon is a slandald ailcraft intercor elth allcrafc headsets. fhe prirary nake and Dodel ls a Telex TC 200 lntercoD. tlrc TC 200 comes fton the fsccory with a voice acclvatsd lntercon, however, lre flnd thal rhe engtne nois€ continuousLy acllvates th6 i.ntelcou. Therefore, our radLo technicians corwett th€ TC 200 to a push to talk incercoo by lnstalling a PT-300 push to talk swlcch, nhich pernlts coDDuolcatioll only r.hen the ssitch is engaged. To coEpleo€nt ch€ inrercoo, tJe use tr,ro nols€ atEenuacint Davey Clark H10-40 headsets. Addiclonal passenger headsecs can be added by purcheslng expanslon nodules floo Te1ex. The cotal cosc of lhe intercoo syscem is approxieately $700. Less expensive cooponents are available such as che Sigtronics Model SPO-20 lntelcon, which cosc $160 versus 9225 fo! the TC 200 and heads€ts such a6 the Telex D-950 rhich cost 9100 each versus rhe tl10-40 r'hlch cost 9214 eech. Ih€ second tlape of iotercon ls an FI{ radlo lnlercom which is available through electronlc and radlo outlets. A tlro radlo set can be purchased for approxinately 970. ltowever, lt does tlot cooe wLEh noise attenuating headsecs and consequently nust be uodLfied by lncorporaclng the ear speskels into coEDon noise protection headsets. Tbese systeDs are bettery opelaced but can b€ convelted to operate fton th€ boac,s electrical- systen by a radio/elecCtonlcs technician. A wide variely of aircraft lntercons can be pulchased through nany avlation eleclronics supply codpenles. LORAN I,RAN is a navigetlonal aLd used in the U.S. pri.Eatlly fot coaslal navlgation. lt has recently been edopted for eeroneutlcal use anal ls being us€d lncreaslngLy in land navlgaclon. Th€ LoRAI leedout csn be ln LORANnuDbets or laticude and longitude. Ite use lt for aeriaL tlans€cls end nest locations lrhlch can be tlsnsferred to a nap uslnt latitude and longltude. lJe use a larlne nodel which costs ap?roxfilately $600. Aviatlon nodels tenerally cost beBreen $1,500 and $3,000. Int€nded pulchasels should lessarch I,RAN tbeory and pelforEence befole purchesing e speclflc nake or node1. l{any oakes and ood€ls of I,MN er6 currently avallabl€ thlouth darlne o! allclaft eleclronlcs suppllers, Additlona11y, a "Clobal Poslrlonlng Sysc€n,. (cps), url.llzlnt setellites ls slaled to coDe on-1ine ovet the next felr yeafs, Ite CpS ellL Likely replace lrMli and be avaiLable an)nrhere lrilhin lhe ctocodllians, range. Radlos Radios ale used !o co@rmicat€ betlr€en boals end ailclafC, boet-!o-b9at, and boat-to-truck o! oth€r glound stations, Ite pri.Darily use ladios to dlrec! egg coli.ectlons fron a hell.copter. One or fi.o airboets equipped rith al.rcraft corparible radios gleatly facilirare egg collections. We use barcery operared porcabl,e radios equi.pped with aircraf! headphones on boats thet are coDpati.ble tith exlstln8 eiicraf! radlos, ,hl.ch ello!. the allclaft pilot and observer co calk ove! the altcraft tadlo, to ocher alrcraft, conclo1 towels. co each othe!. and to the collectlon boat v1a a singl.e redlo. The only liniration we have encountered is that oul portable radios have lldited llfe balterie€ lrhich are not capable of excended use. Consequencly, conn€cclon !o the boac,s electrlcal sysren sould be very ben€flcial. Addllion4lly, one-eay redlos ale used to reley Lnstructions to collection boets equlpped i'lth an Lnexpensi.ve tlanslsloi radlo that uLl1 recelve radlo signals r,lthln the alrciaft frequency band. I,trls redlo ls evailable through local eleccronlcs dlstllbutors for about $15. poltable allclaft frequency bend radios can be purchased lhlouth aircraft electronlc suppllers for approxiDately 9400-$500 (Kenny RLce, Fish and WildlLfe Coop Unlr or Alan tfoodlrarat, Connlssion). CAPTUREEQUIPXENT Live Csptule ID the course of vdrtous sludles, ic is necessary to capcure alligators rangint in size froD hatchllngs to larte adult naL€s. the folloelng are vslloug lechnl,qu€s $e use . S!elSb-b9.9&S*- - Snatch hooks consisr of {eighred rreble hooks acteched ro a restrainlng 1lne whlch are chlown over an alligator and snatched inlo ics hid€. The aLllgacor ls subsequently pul1ed in and subdued. The slze of rhe hook and Line should be nalched ro the size of the alligators to be captured. Addicionally, snatch hooks can be used in conjunctlon l,rith a rod and reel for lonter distance and rhe abiliry to play (r1!e our) a larte alllgato!. A lidLlatio[ !o using snacch hooks ls chet rhe hook ray peflecrale and cause a wound, Snalch hooks can be purchased fron fl.shing tackle outlets. S!g!gg. --wire srurles atcached to a restrai.nint line and fascened co a pole are used to capture alllgslors fror a boet. thls [erbod requi.les approaching th€ alligato! sc€althily aod placing the snare over its snout and around lcs neck. Tte r€strainidg lln€ 1s then pulled, ehlch lighcens the snare, {hich detaches frod rhe pole. nr€ alligator can take out line , be played ( tired ouC) , pulled to the boa! and subdued. IJ€ prlnarlly use locking snares, shlch have a nechanisn chat preve[ts loosenlDt the snale l'hil6 tenslon ls belng applied. consequentLy, these can be us€d i.n conlunction r'lth a float attached to the restralnlnt llne \.hich does not have to be held or eccached co lhe boa!. LocLlnt snares cen also b€ sec ac cralrls and culvelt openints. l,lumhw Traos. - -l{urphy traps are basically locklng snares used at a bait station (ATIACH}'ENT L). the advantate of sec snaies is that the capture !6:rr does not have to reDaln at che capture s!te, A proper set-up sill e1low the snaled alligetor to back off into the ,ete! and subEorte co alreit !.t€ capEols. A Eodlflcetion of the standard Murphy tlap ls che {lgggl4g_!!g!pby (A1an Woodnard, Coddisslon) nhich can b€ set ln !.eter, rhich greatly enhances the trap's effecciveness. Sneres can be purchased flon Ra)mond Thonpson, 15815 S€coad Place West, LJrnneood, Itashington, 98036,,U.S.A., telephone (206) 743- 0783, or ocher crapplnt suppLiers. Ptlstron lonEs . - - Pilstloo tongs ere codronly used by horp€tologist f,or handling snakes. chel! rlgld construction also uakes lheD useful in cepturing aLLigators up to 35 inches (91 cn) font. Pilscron tongs conslsr of a tubular alunLnuD pole wlrh a plier-like attachnent on one end and a squeeze crigger on the othe!. The pllers ale clanped dotrn on the alllgalols aeck or tall atrd it calr be lift€d !o the hand or dlopped 1n a c6llection buck€c. fongs are avallable lhfouth Pllstroo Tongs, Inc,, Folt Sdith, Alkansas, for approxinately $40 for a 48 lnch (122 cD) Long tong. gCggh_89-le!. - -An aninsl resClalnc noose pole can be used to capCule three. co six-foot alllgators. These poles are dade \rirh a heavy cable on poles fou! (1..2r) to 12 (3.5i!) fe€t long (Ketch-All Codpany, San Diego, CA). !!gX!99!t. --Sna11 harpoon darts o! heads are aLso used !o caplure alllgaaors over eighE feet (2.42D,. lhese darts ar6 s[a11e!, 1.5 inches (3.75cn), ln Ledgch than the heads descrlbed !n the harvest haeoon, but are [ade 1n the sene fashlon. Harves! Capture le!-jgglg. - -Set hooks conslsr of a balted flshlng hook arrached ro a restraining llne. lhe lescrainlng lLn€ can be actached to e flxed poinc or f1oar. The balc ls suspended above che eate! at a helthc dlctaced by rhe incended alllgator's size. Balt selecgion should be besed on the aniEels norraL p!ey, hoeever, we hewe formd thet aged beef or po:.k lung sorks v€ry rre1l. Th€ consistency of the lung a11or.s it to float ohl1e aging increases the bai! scenc, provldlnt gr€ater attlact1on. Additlonally, a floeting balg cen be thloirn out !o a car8et aninal. Tlte restrainj.ng llne is ettached to the suspenslon device uslng a nethod that rill allo!. the alligator to pull the llne free, We have used clothes ll.ne pins, rubber bands, tape, and norched sticks, IlIe restlaining 1ine length ls detetuined by the situatlon, honeve!, enough llne should be provlded !o a11oo the al1l.galor co subserge and lle otr che botton. Baired hooks nay aLso be used in conjunction with a rod and reel. ll€lpggqg, - -llarpoons ale used prinariLy ro cake alligarols at ni.gha by slealthy approach. Halpoons ale especially effective when a nuDber of specific slzed alligatots need to be collecred. We use a harpoon conprised of a d€taching head constlucced of 3/8 Lnch (9.5 Dn) diareter stainless steel rod apptoxinacely 2 lnches (5 ctr) Long, a dliver consclucEed. of L/4 inch (5.4 bn) stalnless steel rod appro:.l.rately 3 i.nches (8 ce) long, and pole constluc@a of I/2 inch (1.3 cn) gelvanlzed pipe o! 2.25 lnch (5 cn) diadecer wood doweLint approxlnarely tO feec (3 d) long (ATTACHIENT 2). If wood doreling is used, lreighc should be added to the harpoon ead to enhance halpoon penetralion. tte harpoon head is atcached !o a restrainlng line lrith a short tentth of sceel cable. T}le restrainlnt lines length should b€ sufflclent ro al1on rhe a11lgaror to sink co rhe bocton and be str.ong enouth to pull lt to the surface and subdue iC, AddLcionally. a fl-oaC ?5 16 usually atcach€d to the end of lhe restralning llne. Colnonly, e tellon (4 liter) slze plasllc contalnel ls used- Hosever, the line can be atteched co the bon of lhe boac and lhe boat,s weighc used co cire the alligero!. [o soulc€ of co@ercially conscnLcted harpoons ls available. &e!gg!i.e&g. --Bantsllcks or pore! heads are priDarlly ussd by dlvels co klll sherks ot othe! flsh by dlscharging a firealD cartrldga upon contact. Ite have found tha! th6s€ r'eapons also can be very effectlve fo! k1IIing alllgacors. Bangstlcks ere eval.lable !n a varlety of plstol, rlfle, and shotgun cellbers. we reconmend eithe! a .38/.357 tragnuo to .44 nagnum pl.sEol ot .12 gEuge shotgun callber. Cautlon nust be exerclsed ohen uslng a bangstick: they should not be dischatged above the rater,s sulface. Although no benufactuler approved bangstlck ls offeled for use on alllgators, chey can be purchased through dlvlng equlpnent shops for 940 ro 975. DATA COIIECTION Length l{€asuaedent Lentth deasuleroenr of alllgalors can be acco[pllshed by incorporatlnt e tape neesule lnto a nartor glove llr a boerd and applylnt fibeltlass resin over th€ tape. SDal1€! alligacors can be oeasured using such boelds lrlth a rlghc antle boald on the end. The a11lgator ls then stretched ou! alont the boald by holding lts snou! agal.nst the rtghc antle boatd and pulling lrs ra11 our along the lape Deasufe. StDllally, larger alligatols cen be meesuled u.sl.nt a tape reasure lncorporated inco a longer boald. lte often do Chls in conjunclion !ll.!h our rei.ghing epperatus. warghing ll€lAhlnt of large alllgacors is accodpltshed by a nuDb€r of \.eys &pcndhg on the facilitles availeble. A scaffold can be erecred at relatively perDAnenc j.s si.ces. The sceffol,d us€d ln conjuncClon i.ith a chain hoist, rdeighing boerd (ATIACHUENI 3) and coDblnarlon of sprlng scal€s. Fiv€ hundled pouod (227 kg) scales are the lelgest \.e hawe been able to acqulte. CorlsequeatLy, w€ not-Dall.y use l or 2, 500 pound scales to lreigh laige aLligators. Sprlng scales Dust be attached by a Dethod the! allons lhen to pulL straltht. pulling ac an anSle l'ill ceuse \relghing error (ATTACHHENT4). Another Dethod conslsts of a I,OOO potrnd (454 kg) belance scele ln conlutrcrlon wich a 12 fooc (3,7 d) long, 2 foot (.6 D) nlde board. 8oth of th€se nelhods lequire a Lalge boat or glound slte. l,arte elligators can be s€ighed h a relatively sEal1 boat using 2 to 4 bathloon tlrpe scales in conjunctlon \ri.th a lrelghing board. A cape Deasure can be incorporated ln the lreighlng board for neasuring total and snout-ven! lengrhs. Sdaller alllgacors can be efflciently lreighed 1n a bag or sack and suspendlng fron an aPPropllace sPrlng scale. Spring scales can be pulchased fl.oD For€stry Suppty Co, 205 W. Rankin Slr€ec, Jackson, l{S 39201.6126 o! Ben l.teedoirs, Inc,, p. O. Box 80549, Arlanta (Charnblee), eA 30366 or olher sclentific, e:rgineerlng, or forestry supply cotrpanies. I.1ISCELLqI{EOUS l{arsh Eoatds we often find oulselves havLng to waLk in places noc intended for hu[ans co tlanslc. In locacions lrlth floatint Cussocks, dense energenC or floacing vetetatlon, [uck soll, or other locatioos lrhele the substrate iril1 Doc quire suPPort person's a w€i.ght I.€ une nalsh boe!& ehich ale aonstnrcEed floo 1 inch a (2.54 cD) thlcL, 6 to 8 lnch (15 co 20 cn) it1de, and 5 to 8 feec (1.E to 2.4 r) long boalds. Additlonelly, short roPes are attach€d to both end€ for transport and letrleval. lte boards cen be Placed on th€ lntetrded Pech and rill, tn treny cases, suppot! a person's weighc. lle usually celry tlto ldentical boaEds and ley one in flodt of the och6!. CONCLUSION Crocodlllan resealch and oatrateEenc proS!:uls lequlrs sPecielized equlPnent and techn!.ques to gather dats o! ensule successful harv€sts. In Flollda, ree have found thac standardlzatlon of these techniques and equiPnen! is virtually iEposslble because of th€ \.lde varlety of alllgato! hebitac cyPes. As e r€sult, \re have Dodifl€d nany existlng technlqu€s end develoPed ne\t ones !o achleve alligacor nanagen€nt and resealch objectives. Alchough ou! equlPnent and techniques day be only appllcable to Flolida setLands, we hoPe thls dlscusslon wiII stioulate you! interest ln crocodilian caPcule cechnlques and equiPEenc. If you have questlotut o! coulents retaldlng sny Portlon of this presentatlo4, pleese contact arrY of the Comlssion's biologists. fhey should b€ able co answer you! que6tl,ons or refer you to soneone who caa. E AttachDent I INSERT ''- )'' :!,#./ // \- iY ^tPsoN',t SlU.rOCXlr|O .. sxatl RtYtt0il0lil0ilPs0lt c0ltPlltf l58l5.2ndPt. Vrest t Y!,r,{w000.wasH. 9E0lt REnSeDSEPf.. t '|l (2oL )143.01E3 .LlsY'**'j 'uto)|l so]i's sELF.LocKtNcSNARS fio. 00.?0" siilrk d sn.R tor smdl gnnc & birdr, ., . . .tara !io. 0.:i "!$irrlrd (n',3tr.t, mirt,nbbits'...... , .t?1, Io. o.Xlilo " e*itcl0d GIu6r, coor, !!c.r...... lt ra A dmpl. y.t .mlrin8ly cff.{Uvc dcyic. tot :'-o.l.S 10" strir"l(d (rp..id lor sarE)...... , . . . th.ao s|vl4 pfied pellt lrcn wrtng.ft. pr.d.. .\-D.t .xS{ o " tonslanstn (b.av.r, tynt, .t!.) ...... ar[ to4t.1s ioty uibd!, or lron posid€.tap tbi.r... .\-o.2 .S.r0 " s$n cl.d (specidb€.ver.r&d...... ttzrC !s thc |nl!n.l is h.ld bolow th. !!rld.. E!p€. lio. 2.\I.72 " lonslerglh(belernym). . . ..,, ..,, .trt la clrlly cff.clb. ln sh.tlow tr&i *!3 shen th. i\o. 3.\\.?2 " loag.tength.oyotG& bnllb vot0 . . . . . t6 JC <- tttp mry b. 5.t h I V-thrFd pocl.t wl r i\_o.t.\\.|o 11.long.le.glh.oug.r &rotf., . . ., ., ..ch tS.6l Drorvncr rviF cxlendiDg otrr brnt irto rrilr Io. 5 x\r0 fi. loog-l€ndhlor bl..t be|' . ., . . . emh t,t l: .-Cofip|lO *l!h l|'leni4 md rncho.i.t i"o. t-Sl0 il..ont€r s$ileled to! bl.cl b.|' . . , . . .rch ta J0 swivlh, dros'nir{ loct, ind hilh.rt trrd. ot \o. 6-XX.l0ft. lof be.r.rd trizry. .,,, ...... ,..ch t3 J| I! doubh awltt .t!d rln. )io.6.S l0 ft. crnrer s*ircl for big b€rrqri.zly. . . .&h t?.al NoJ.D lor 'i|Iikrl. hitrt. tEcoon. do2l8J0 (S dlnoreslqilel - XX denolEltedocr) No. r'D fo! B.!lc'l Olt ! ...... do!.115.90 SPDCIAL DROWNER,SMADE TO ORDER \o. SSKI Strnirai Snar! Kir-tor F.bbiq squirrltt, bbds er..2 sna.es.ticsand instructiorli, ...... ,. .., eichtt J! PLE.{SEADD O' OF ORDER FOR rDD IO' TOSTAGEAND HANDLING POSTACEAND ITANDLING sNAa: Pltt! stand.&l d l.o.9 L.nrth Mod.L lig. 1 ihw! !h. laDo{! thoEpE! Srqr. l,c}- Flg 2 shwr method ol udng Ar.ho. or Enal f.!t.n.r. Sottd :lne3 show .rd ol Sn.rt |! lt voutat .rclrEl! |'€.' pol.. or 3r.kc. Dotrcd lrn€ show! m.ihod ol lns€Rlna P (fsrul.) t|lal W ($|3hct, lbrolgh touril ry. tn .lcyhol!,' lnd lnro tock. l.a {or. ?.l|slon ol .n!rc wtr. prlvlntt rny poirlbl. .h*lna locc. Fl& 3 s h o$'r FIG. sbo.ters$ileled snare s. Dopuler in sn.rinA rabbirs. rIG.4 c, 'nnES - to stondold length 'ith .,an.bo bc.l and nEPAIR cut l!ns: and ESPEC. ono ferrulc olr.odv fl.ttened on oaa end. To or dt6ncr reoove old or IALL:.ADAPTED r.poi! t.ct. dorog.d - ri;o. o.!.!bla pqrtl otr ntt rit. dd llott€n TO IEAVER and oD. fe!rul.. dr! lD.cict tto-Fv t'i3t .ir. Otr€r rnarin& It .-ro qr usd ill oiiqiMl .nd!.; coF.. i! cll rhc* srarcs. fro|n \/ .i:e. fror l€ 0 thtouih l0 3. ]-o. 0 lo No. 2/5 ina js b)' mcars ol \afi \'ire rhroueh th. .$1rd .te .nd .roun.l SNARES AND SNARING a book on a rr.c. role, or stak.. tn !l.I s.XX lnd No. professiotral Calladido & Alaskar, d SX 3narc., tor bla wolve. .nd b..rr, . I,.c. inaiing rnethods by Raymond Thompson inl sNtr.l ls bullt in thc Dtatdlc ot rh€ tO toot tDclude.ir latest methods of unde!-ice rrar.. and a 5,1t. €xrenston rnrle rrtr. w|lh !.Frla'ron tisrener ls added.wE slraring of Beaver, Mink, Otter, 'r€' ITANUFAC. ftl?E Sf,_ARES TRAPPER.SOWN SpECl. Musklat and Saccoon. . . . flCA'rlOr-S O:\.. SPECIAL OnDER A|l out With special tree and pole snaring rnarci. tio. o ro tio. 6.xx tnctu.iv., u!. htghei methoda. Fr.d. NO,lr'aY nrlsT (d?v.top.d by nr!f. hJid Th.mpson In 1926rSTEEL w]RE 31 s3.00 XETCH-ALLCOMPANY PRICE LIST OF REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR KETCH.ALL POLES Cablcscomplcte - with plastic Unirs Spring,Ba & Unit Pricc (f.o.b.San Dicpo) ea, For J fi. SlandardPolc For 4 fi. sD.6i ea. For 5 ft. t6.00 tE.00 For4to6ft. ExtensionPolc 18.00 For 7 to 12ft. (AbovcCablcs arE Complatc and Rcadyto lnstall) Other Rcplaccmcntparts for Ketch_Allpolcs Dcrice- with llocking. Cag., Balt Bearings,Washcr & SprinS (dcsignarcifJor Srandardor ExrcnsionFote). e4...... Tooth Cuard (fils all polcs) s 8.50 2.70 e4..,...... ReleascKn_ob- - with Washcr{dcsignata if for Standard EXrCnSlOn POIC) - 5.40 Head corn-plctewith Hair Guald, Lock Ringand Set Scrcw (dcsignaie pole).... if for 7 lo 12ft. Extcnsion ,.. 16.25 Hand Crip (dcsignat.if for Srandardor ExlcnsionPolc c. Chuckwilh (fo. potc Lock Ring Extcnsion onty) 1t.70 - SEE REVERSESIDE FOR PRICESON KETCH.ALL POLES,ETC. _ REPAIRCHARGES On StandardPolcs $10.00labor plus parrs On ExrcnsionPolcs l2.N " Notc: Wirbrropcrcarq rhe Kctch-A polewill givc longand useful servicc; howcv€r. wilh continuous *o,!?lq lT:l1l T*,ronalty othcrparls may nccd rcplacin& lr isusualtyadvanragcous to rhc lh"."cccssaryparrs and make his own rcpairr, or Ketch_AIComiany wi bc glad::11.-,._l:r"l1:!ro malc rcpatni for laborplus pans. bBffiFa?ll 2537unNaf,srl'iva u! ritlPff;"?3i!"3#l1t"q PRICELIST e!&q!rye&!rap!t!:L.19_8!) Units Description O ,'....11:i"l'li:"*", 3 feet Standard Kcrch-AII Polc s 51.20 4 fcer 60.00 5 fcct 65.50 -e3.: :' 4 to 6 feet ExtensionKetch-All Pole 8t.50 / to l2 tect I r0.c{ ca. 9- x9" x 30- Ketch-All- All PurposeTran ,...... 6t.50 6"x6-x Kerch-All- Rodenr Trap ...... -17.0() pr. llrge or Mcdium LealhcrProtection Cloves ...... ,.... 15.00 arn'l 1 1986 O Priccs,'n rhisShccr iirm rULt- :.+ ; thereaflcr subjed lo Chrngc without Noricc - l0q0 Discounlon Ordersof Szl0O_00or more ShippingCharges will be prepaidand chargedro Cusromer CaliforniaSales subjecl to SalesTax ForeignSales payable in U.S. Ddltars _ SEEREVERSE SIDE FOR PRICELIST ON PAR'I,S_ ORDER BLANK Individualsmay usc this Form- ordcrs obligatinSMuniciparities, states, -fifiD.firrrE|T''E'rfizeo-iorrrr-- FederalGovcanments. etc. ORDERNUMBER DATE-- To: Ketch-AltCornpany: pleascfurnish it.ms a! checked(at cuffent prices) Purchaser\Name Ship to Address Streei Addrass City & Srrtc 7ip------= Ciry & Srare Zip- Phone( (Pkasefumish O St.eci Addressfor Shipping) AurhorizcdSignaturc Tirlc E:i= \fuff,fl ! I 16 /s \, l/z L:"?/ v Airboat Speclficatlons EOLtr To be latest cottonrnouth design or equivalent. !gtgl![: 13' 5. Transon rrldth: Eighty-eight inches {88r}. Sldes: tnenty inches (20.) at mld-shtp. transoo Beight: torrest point needs to be not Less than Elghtoen ldches (19.). 1.5 Color: Camouf,lageot Dark cleen 1.6 Deckr Eave hinge stolage alea $ith tro (2) locklng f!anes. I.7 lttaterial: ?he hulL eill consist of Iayers of rroveo poLyester-fiber glass !ate!1al. 1.8 Botton: Consist of no less than four (4) layers of llatt four (4) . stlingers thilty-seven i.nches (37") outsi.de usiDg five-i,nch (5- ) quartet by four-inch ({") fur, 1.9 ji:tg9g: Corlsisr of three (3) Iayels of polyesrer-fibergtass aC the gidesi no less than four (4) layels in the chines. l.1O tHUt{ PoltaneE: Shall be fastened to the botton of the hull l,tth poLldnet faaten€ls. I|he polyne! shall extend fron ttanso[ forward t{elve feet (12r) and a teo-foot (2,, piece attached to that sheet fo$rard. 2.0 ErcurB 2.1 Renanufactured O54OLyconing, no l€€s than 2dO horse power to include all acc€3sories, airclaft startet, benall,x,nagneto, carburetot, fly ,heel and flade artestot. 3.0 aIE ltsE Stainless steel exhaust headels sith stal,nless steel exhaust flex !o erlt ebove tran!'on. 4.0 ALTEtrIASOR Delcot not less than 60 ataps rith internal exciter. 5.0 PIDP Seventy-four inches (74') instaLled to be no 1e9s than one lnch (1.) belov top of transon. 6.0 EACIBIC 'GI. POTO llEG TrIlI to be aounted uoder enginei not less than 30-9aUon capacityt intarDal fuel guaget coast guard approved. 9.0 RlCClrC All oelaL rolk plineil ,Ith epoxy prloer and flnlshed coat. ehal1 be poLyurelhane paint (Iigh! green) . 9.0 E[@TB SIITD 9.f. uotor nounts EhalL be nourted at five points uslng one lnch (1") and thlee-qualter (3,/{) squale tubing not less than sixteen (16) 9ua9e natcr ial. 10.0 sEt?lfc 10.1 Trio seats in line - !ea! operator bottod seat to be treLv€ Lnches (I2') above [agnetor paslrengea seat to be foruarrl eight inches (8') loser. seating to be elected on tless design f!@ engine stand to deck bulxhead (no legs or bracing froo sealing truss to floor frod englne). 1r.0 SEATINC SAll|D IqTERIIL ShaII be one-half tnch (l/2') and thlee qualte. {3/4) -E!'lt galvanized tubing. r2.0 ctrttFt 9trg. 12.1 sbau, ba noirnled on llght siale of seat. 12.2 Control, paD€l in6ttloents shal1 lnclude bendix al.craf,t starting switcht toggle srltch fo! btlie putrp, toggle sri.tch fo! davigatlo. lightst toggLe sultch fo! elecllic fu€I Pulgt fno"'$ay toggle $ritch lor electllc lrh tabt toggle svitch fo! lntelnal. huu. Light. !2.3 Coattol panel guages shall include tackooete! ttlth hou! oete!, mcchanlcal oil plessuie, nechanical oi.1 tenpelatule vott deter. 13. O NI,.IG TIO| I.IGET' 13.1 coast gualal apploved lights installed. lt.o ffi3 SEE!-@F ClAra l,l.l Cablc dounted at contlol panel 3ha1l 90 to the carbureto! to rlch-lean ahut-off valv€ at carbnreto!. 15.0 E.ECTrIC EItd POIO 15.1 llo lees thln 1,,800 ph-ouu.et througb sld. of, boat. 16.0 EACIIIC tnIX IAB 16.1 Inctalled oD !ea! blanson in lhe c€ntet of the huII. 17.0 I.Iet L7.1 Hourted unile! ope!a!o! floor. l8.o lccEsRlre Pmr.E Shal,l be lounted fo! opelltor,s rlght foot using natlnc clble antt trottle lInkage. 19.0 Pt@ mtD To b€ constructeal oC 3/l a.d I/2 EltT galeanized condult. Rear gualal to hav. (3/4.) 3/4-lich hopps. A11 J-bars shatt be one-half itrchlL/2.| , not oole than foulteen inches (14i) apalt on !ea! of hopps. J_bals extend forl'ard to fron! of englne flame of ptop gualit ls coveied rlth trro lnch (2') x fout inch (4") selded lJile and felded ln place. 2O.O AIIDBTS Shall, be tro feet (2') by fou! feet (4,) allfoil design of t{etaling alutinuu flll rith urethane foan fo! support. Rudalels shalL haye adjuslable tlln tapst ruddels shall pi.vot on nylon contlol. 21.0 gfEllrc Contlol ar[ shall be.t operator,s hard (uslog latest deslgns), cable glving full luddet coDtlol. 22.0 stcrca @torxltcttt Tno (2) storrgc codpartdents Located under lhe t o (2) seaEs. 23.0 SEXI:I 23.I Shalt b€ o! fiberglass constnrction ulth vlnyL upholste!, including arletnal lalD covers. FOR YOUR INFORMATTON Any Eontlon of brand naner or auppli€rr of .qqlpD.nt &scrlb.d ln Gh6 attach€d Lnfoltleltonel packegc do€s nor rept.a.ttt .ndors.r€nt by th. Flolida Ce|!. and 8r€sh Waga! Ftsh CotiDtsslon. An:/ such na!.a or suppllalt a!:c pa.s6nc6at nr€r€ly to tdcntlfy rh€ ry?6r of €qulpr.nr th.r corlslssl.n b!ol.ar.r. hav€ foulrd luitabl€ for Ch6la eorL. 3E TIIE STATUSOF CROCODWUSPOROSUS IN TI{E SOLOMONISI.ANDS H. Mcas.l Udversiryof Sydrey Sydocy2006 Au5tralia and F, lvrf,trc Khg FloridaMEcum ofNatural Hisrory cair€6villc,Florida 11.USA INTRODUCTION.Uotil 19E9,!o systematicsurvry of thc aaltwatcrcrocodilc poptlatioos in the SolomotrIsLr& hadb€c! uadertaketrand \,€ry litdc wEsknowtr about the statusof the sD€ci€sitr thos€ islands.Duriry 1988,Melvin Boltotr was girrr a coEultancyby FAO wit[ terEs of referincewhich idclude& 'L reviewthc q'rrcrt situation*,itl rcgardto cocodilc utilizatior i! thc SolomotrIslards. 2 a&ite otr Eethodolog for cooducingsuncys of eocodilc habitatsard EoDitorirg GocodilepopulatioDs. 3. leviewlegislativc asp€cti of clocodileutilizatioa 4. a&is€ on implicationsand requirede s underthe CITES. 5. adviscoo feasibilityof crocodilefaming includingamongst others, econonical/socia.l viability,potc ial site{ hrndingimptications and ecotogical sustainabiliry of crocodile [email protected] Boltotrrcportcd to FAO in Ftcld DocuDelr No. 1,TCP/SOI//6753, May 1988;'A Feasibiliry StudyofcrocodilcFarning;SolomonIslada'Thoughhc*93o y ableto tsit a fcw areasin tf,e islaadsand malc selcctcdspodight suacys os four eatcrways,h€ wasablc to corlectlyconclude: "Itcsc s€le{tedswvcyE talen t ether\dth Iocalrepo(E erport figuresand the fact that skin- huntiDgir row b€ingconduatod i! tbe mo6rrcmote provi[cls alt iDdicatei€ry low ltunbets of crocodila6.Evideady, howcvcr, ttcy arestill vcrywidcly distribute4' Aeong his ae€oEmcrdatiorsx,€ae: 'Inposc a tcmporarye.:eon baa fo.3 ]€ars" "Locatesuitable arcas ard crcouragethe ideaof socodile sanctuaricsir supportof thc ralchilg s€letnc(c.& ku'i lagooa). 'Cafiy out r%ular spodighfcoutlts !o nodtor trcodsia crocodilenunbcrs. Establisha smallbut etrcicnt'farm'at Mamaraspccifcally desigted to utilizc the ofral rcw bcirg p.oduced' 39 Itr July 1989,the s€rior autho.sas giw! a'no fcc' co.sulta&y by tlc CITESSecrctariat, eith thc tid. 'Sustairablcutilizatiod of thc aalteetcrcrocodilc Ododvhlt to&tus in lhc SoloEo! Islads.' Th€ objcdiiEs*Erc: To assisrthe Goveltrm€ntof thc Solo'Bo!Isldds h astablishiDgtic conprchc8ivc lalagpmcnt platrfor tf,c spcciesthrough. 'i) a ficld sunry of thc disriburion atrdstatus oI thc saltwatercocodile in tho Solomoa Isla A,ard 'D a! a66crsEcrtol thc cfcds of thc otrlcDt reloitatiotr od the wild population. To prepare,if app.opriat€,a p.opo6alto transfcrthc populatio!of thc SoloEonklards from AppctrdirI to AppctrdixU otr b€haf of t[c CITESPartiar.' Tbc 6eld suwry wasmadc during the pcriod26 July-8 Septcmber1989 - sc. sailiq tiEes i! Appcdix I. It wasa.@plex andudsually difticult op.ration. Thejunior auttor paidhis oq|' fare to AusEaliaatrd assfued the scrior authorwith thc sutaey,at no fcc. Ttc prca€ntpapcr prcscDts ttc .csults,cotrdusiors a[d recoooeadationsresulting ftorn the sn.wy. METHOIN. Thc survcymclhods for repGatablclight spodiglt ccnsusingof cocodilc pnpulationsare givenir ddail itr Moroglaph 1 of'Suncys of Tidal RiiEr SystcEsitr tte No(hem Territory of Autralia andTheir CrocodilcPopttlations.' llris publicatioais onc of 20 monoglaphson crocodile 3urrrts by M6sel atrdc!-\rorkcrs ad publishc-dby PergamonPrcss. Sim! th€ SolomodIslads crocdile suw€yc/as ooly conc€rsed {iti trumber,size dass, and distributioo of 6ocodilc6,it wasrot €ssertia.lto mcasurea.d recorda numb€rof parametersusually recorded in a survey.State of th€ tide, amounlof bad. expo6c4water salhity andtcEpcraturc werc donitored. Salidty ncasucments irdicrtc whcthcrthc aquatichabitat is a fteshwatersysteE o. otlerwGe. This matterb of idporta(€ asit gcncrallydctcrEitrqr the suitablity of thc partiorlarwatefi/ay as a potcDtialbrcedirg arca- sce MorographI, pagr 1m, No.Eally, with a tram of ttree, $fleys areeade al a speedof Z) to 30lor per hour ard co!€r fton 40 to 100td pcr righabcforc thc tidc risar andthc aEoutrtof exposedba* deceasesto less than60 co Dalirg it hardlr to i€e thc crocodiles,Thia dcfnitcly is not the clsc ro lbc SoloDod Islands,Tho Nmbcr of s/atcreays\rhich arc both wo.th*hilc suwcyi.gatrd arc suweyablearc few andltslla.lly scattcrcd wi&ly. Thcy nosr oftcn arc vcryshort bccause of hills or Eou,rtainsirland" Just gEttingto importantdocodile habitaBoftc! teke3dorc than24 hoEs, ard a dayor two lindiag and &gotiating \vith thc tradiaiolallandowncrs of thc arc4 but thcn only 15Di.utos arc.equted to survey it, pcrhaF 25 tE i! all O! r luobcr of oc(ssioDsa dugoutca8oc or a 3m aluminumdbghy wit! two paddlenw?l uscdto suvcy sEa lagoons.Err! with a 6m canocand a 9.9horsepower outboard motor, surlEying spce& w€ropabi ly slow. lagools witt dangqouscoral racfs aDd narrow strcaEs wittr rumcrous stlbm€rgcdobstacles prcclu&d suwctingat bighspcr/& suncy spec&on evcnrclativ€ly dcar *atcrvaF EErcoftcn veryslow whctr the canoccarncd 3 to I pcoplein additio! to tle 3-Ba. suwey tcan; 2 surEy lcahcr6,vilagc chiefqtraditiond ladot Ders,aad hunters, aI iDsislingon beiDg pr€sdrL RESITLTS.Thcsc arc Frsc cd ard disorss€dscparaaely for cachof lhc gcrcral alcassulvcycal L TcEoto ProviDcc(Sant C.uz Islads). Doiry thc dghts of 29-31July1989, tlc followiagwaterways lJrrc suflieyed(Ior zlro stanilg poiDEsc. S.rra Cnr Isbrd+ NcndoIslan4 1:50,0@s{llc Eap, shcct10/165/16): 40 Lotrgitude ktitudc Lucdoada Bay ard Rivcr 15959.6E (14635 MatiDi Ilgoon ard Lale IASTTE r47.6'S MblaEoli lrgoon ft646.6 E (r43.6'S Tepiai tagootr L66"0d2E 1f46.4'S Re.f (Alamboi) Island 166Vt.aE r427S Midstream distalccs sufi€ycd ard the trumtrcrsof crocodiles sighted\rere: tE [umbcr sighred LurEoaada Ri!€t 2A 2 Luldoatrda Bay 22 0 Crcct A' at lm 55 on LlraEoa!& RirEr 05 0 crcd 'B' arto 32 on LJemoan& Rivcr 05 0 Creet 'C' at bn a9 or LucdoandaRiv€i OJ 0 cr€€t 'It ar ld L8 o! LucDoandaRivcr o MatiDi kgoon z6 2 Mafimi LaIe p€rirnetcr z0 Mblamoli Ilgoor 43 0 TQiai I4oon 7 Rccf Islaad Lagoon 0 2 21.8 10 Shorcliacdistsnce,s survcycd wcrc suct greater.Tlough thc suweyabledistaacca app€ar sdall, it csscdtiallyrcprcscDtr all ofttc surecyablEaililablc habitatin tbe systchs"Ody Matimi Late whic! ii ftcaf,vaie.,ald Lu€ooandaRivr. ald thc {rects ir LucEoan& Bay,which havc a large fteshwateroow, contain good crocodilc brcldiry babitat. Thc sizcclssses of thc 10aliIrals sightedwcrc: 1(H), 1(2-3), 1(34), 1(5{'), 1(7-8), 4(EO<6'), l(EO), whcrcH standsfor 'tatcblirgs' altd EO sra.n&for ,cycsorly.' EO arettose aaioals for whicha sizcestinate could rct bc obtairc4 A sli& of a (fu') (rocodilcwEs sighted on thc northcmb€ach of Luemoaa&Bay. Morris lrub4 nc,r Matioi Llcj had5 haachlingsard 42-3') aaimalsin a pea. In additioo,w€ sightedand Deasured11 ftaahly salted cocodilc sldls froE admalsranging il sizefron to 7 in length. Matimi klc 19asshot out jusr prior to our surrEy,.ev€dthoogh tic sldls wcreless tha! " the mininum siz! aad apparcntlyilcgal utrderFc6crl SohEotr Islads law. Ttc abovcrcsults spcat for thcms€lv€s"lt appeatsthat weviewcd a remnantpopulation otr thc vc.gc ofcrtitrdior. Ircal pcoplercportcd thaa creek etrtcringGraciosa Bay and strcams or the trott! coa6tof NcsdoIsland oftc supportedsub6taDtial Gocodilc populatioDs, but tlesc wereshot out. Bot! Utupuaard Vardtolo Islaa& of thc S.nraCruz group in Tcdotu Provircc arc also trom to co aio roEc crocodibs(hudcrs hayErrcrndy shipFd bidesfton thcrex hoecr,€r,habitat therc i6 lcss€dedsive thatr od NendoIslatr4 Wc c,rrc unablcto obtah uarlportation to ard ftod thcscislan& within a rcasonablctimc framcand thus could not surveytbeD. 2. Malira (Sar Cristobal)Provitrcc. DuriDgthc trightsof 7-9August 1989, thc folowitrgwatcnrays *crc survclcd(for z€.o startirg poirG sc€Sar Cristobalt50,000 scalc Bapq s[e€6 1O/l6Ln, LO/l6l/L\ and10 /1A/B). f.olgitu& ladtu{tc Naluraghcna Passagrbgoon 161'14.9€ 1(P475S Marau I6lard kgootr ftam3E 1tr48.9'S Maror Bay arca fiL"n2E 1f28.l',S Midstrcam distancqrsu.r,€yed atrd thc rumbcrs of crocodilesBightcd wcrc: td nuEber sighted NasuraghcnaPasagc lagoon 32 2 Mar r Islald llgood 53 0 Marcu Bayarca L4.6 2 The 23.1tm sutl€yedrepreserts the bcstrcnainilg crocodilehabitat on Malira Islald a!4 acco.dirgto localhuterq qocodilesare rarely seetr elsewhere. Gcnerally speakin& Malira tsland contaiEsonly marginal babitat for c.ocodile$Saili.ug tiEe to andfrom the wid€spr€adareas surveyed wasZ hr 30 mia. Thcsize classes ofthc 4,'in.l. si8lteds/etq 1(+5), 1(5{'), 1(7-8'),ad 1(8-9').One (3a') crocodilewas bcitrg.-aptivcly rcarcd on Malaupahakla[d of the Thee SistersGroup of islards. Vy'e alchoredat MalaupaiDaand exrEined tc/o frc6hwatcrswamp nestbg arcas od the northemesd of the islald. Thc swamFx,€re Eocrly dry .nd no old ncsta*rrc sightcd No suitablcaachonges exis otr Malaulaloor A.li'ireIslandq the two othcr iilard ir thc Three Skrcr8group. Noncof thr traditionallatrdown..s o. eldersof tbeseislalrds werc preseDt (they were awayoo UlawaIslar4 somc50 t n di$arr) *hcn ec visitcdMalaupaina Islatrd ad w€were inlormed that Ali'itc Islandhad b€€! cloccdby policefor inr$rigation- Habitatotr all thee of thcscislands is rcry oarginal for crocodiles.Storiss about large populatioos of ciocodilesod Ali'ite Islard Eusl rcdair ju6t that,hea$ay, util confroed. 3, MalaitaProvinc!. Doring thc dghts of U-14 August1989, tf,e fol,owingwatererays were suweyed (for z€ro startiry pointsscc Maiaita L50,000scale nap6, she.ts9/16l/5,9/161/6, ?.r.d9/161/10)l l,oqitude Latitude TabaRivcr arca 161 .rE 927.45 Mara Masitc Passagc 161"85E yzt.4s ktc Korca 1j'"?63E r3.1'S Si'uaRirEi L6ti.4E 917.9'S MidsFcam d;stalccs and thc mbers ofcocodtles sichled were: lb dumbci sighted Mate Masitc Passagc ns 0 TaLaRirE , tm 0 to 24 0 TaramatrCre€L at tln 1.9on thc TatraRiicr, tm L9 !o 5.0 3,1 0 Crccl bchhd Marihotc Isla.n4 Im 0,7to L4 o:7 0 HuIo River,tt[ lJ to 35 1 Marrfi Macro Charn4 lm 2J to 59 Su'uHorihori C.eeL,tm 4.9 o'nMaatili Ma€roCt|..ncl to tm 6.7whcrc it cotracctswiti th€ Huro Rivcr 1f 0 l:lc Korca pcrimeter 5 Si'uaRivcr 73 1 Totd 0.7 TaLa Rivcr, Taramata Crcdq latc Kor€4 and thc Si'ua fuvc! provide crccllc crocodilc babitat W€ sltrcr&d Eo6l ofthe b€st cocodilc habitat tttowu to peoplc on Malaita and where rcportcdly there used to be laryc ciocodile populations. Tbe odd crocoalileis sightcd sporadicaly itr ttc Darginal habitat wtich domidatesth€ wateflr.aysof Malait& Sailing times to thcse are usually loDg and as *c foutr4 lot ftuitful Kwaimbaita River oD the castordside of Malaita was,reported'to lEve 4. Ilabel Pr@ircc. Durirg &c dighrs of 1620 Augusf 989, the folowiDg *aterwa),s vcrc survey€d(for starting ,cro poh6 s€c Sarta Ilabcl t50,m0 napr, she.ts 8/159/1 ed 7/L:A/tO)l I4ngitude Iditudc BaravalgPas6agc atrd Ortega Ch"nn€larca 69:BAE Havi Bayarea ltlz).4€ 73.4$ Vcrao Bayarca L*lltE r37.9S Gbahimhobolslard 158 3E 738.dS 43 Dist!&ca su.r,EFd ard lumbcrs of crocodilc6sidtcd slrc: tD rumbcr siqhtcd BaravalcPassagc and Oncga ahrnn.l 9.0 0 LoghaiRiver at tD 3.9o! OrtcgaChatrcl 0 Nalihc Crccl at lm 6.4otr sar JorgcIslard sidc of ftcgr Cbamcl L1 1 Tutsaliu RiEr at l'3 2.4 oo BaravalcPassagc 11 1 Toutoro Riler at kn 25 on TutEssiu Rivcr 0.6 Kokoibut! Rivcr at lm 3.1 o! Toutoru Rivcr 13 U RavihiCrclk at lm 3.1on ToutoauRivcr 1.0 0 Kabbud Crcct at lE 1.7 o! BaravatrcPassagc 0 Havi Bayand its.iecl of 0J tD at tm 45 5.1 1 SutuFda Crccl at t r 27 oa Havi Bay 1.8 0 MalasuCrc€k at lm 4.0 on Hari Bay 0.9 0 GhabirahoboIsland kgootr pedm€te. LO VcoaoBay 4.L 2 OgasaB.y at tm 02 on VcnaoBay L6 I HulaghiBay at lE 13 on Vdao Ba,, 0.9 0 Ctccl'.{alh25on Vcrao Bay L1 0 Totd 53 21 Sada kabcl Isla4 lite Malaita,contains oocrly margiralcocodilc habitat,althowh . lumbcr of thc rivcrsabdc haE goodto €ncclcdthabitat. Pradicaly aI of the ctccksa.nd rivcrs have a largr il0ow of frashwater. Thc sizcdasscs of tf,c 21qo.odil€6 sidted wrrs ?(I{),3(2-3'), 1(34'), 1(55),4(EO<6'), a(EO>6), ard l(EO). The l5 cro@dil€ssightcd in chahiralobo Lagootrco.stitute a sEall but inportant populatioaprobably rcsultiog ftom a sirylc pair ofbrccdirg adult clocodilcs.wc sighted ttc b. y slidc of a (910') crocodilcb€twecn the lagootraod tbc sea" Thc rcEaiDderof tb€ .e,sulbitrdicale a ridely scattc.edreDnant nu.Eber of crocodiles. Ar Kia vilagq s/cvis*cd 3 trtchlirg! cipturcd i! Gbr.hirahobokgoon 6nd 1(34') ard 1(+ 5') aainalr caporc! ia ttc Allard],ccBay arca" 5. WestcmProvilca A- Chois€ul wc $hrcycd t\,o saEplearc.r itr choiscul cbosenby a koocrtedgcablehunter, duringthe ligtns of 23'24AugusrO89 (fo. ze.o staningpoidtr scr Choiscr L50,0mscalc dapg t\*ts 7/157 lr.d 7l15t lql 4 Longitudc l,atitu& O& llarbour area 1571&6'E 72UlS Ndorolo RiiE and l,elerygahna Llet arca t5t9.6E rr9as Di*aaccs surrcyerl aad numbersof crocodilessightci wcre: Ln rumbc. sighted Oala Ha6our 2 Ve!&lc Crcck 1J 0 Kasu River 05 0 Oala Rivcr 0 klenggavana InlEt 3,0 0 Ndoroko River L7 0 Total 14.4 Tbe amourt of remainiDgsuitablc, availableqocodile habitat or Chois€ul appca* ro oe very limitd ad cvca that is disappcaringquiclly as Eorc and Eore ger&rs are pla.ded along tf,e rratcrraF. Thcic arc a fcw bmckirh fuooos iolad fton the seawhich havc dif6cult acccssaad are rcpo.t€d to co[tair a f€w remaiairy crocodiles We visitod onc of thesc durirg the day but lr,cre unable to surveyif al ghL A 2 m dogout canoc *ould haveto be draggedh to surey it. This would mt ttc a iafc operatioq especiallyifa largc docodile did i!.habit thc lagoon. It is apparcd that the salt$"tcr crocodile is or t[c verge of disappcariagftom Choiseul ard that *€ viewed two of the remruEt ones. Both of ttres€(&9') a.dnals were sighted duing the day. We also vict|d 3(3-a) docodilcs iD captivity at Kcal4 taletr ftom thc lagoo! on t_hem.amed island a.f,ossfroE Arariti oa VaghenaIslatl4 B. Vella lavcla. We srtvcyed one area oo Vela tavell4 requ€sredby the Minister of Natural Resourccs. Ngolosoli Clcclg draiaiog tle ticrnat area od Vella Lar€lla into paraso Bay, thc Bay and thc vilagc ficsbwater lagoor wcrc sun€,€d oE ttc dight of 5 August 1989(for zero startitrg poiDtss€e VcIa lavcla t50,(m scab nap6, shert 7/156/11): foagitudc Iditudc Ngolodoli GccL area L56"392E 737J'S Distanc€ sorrc!€d atrd mtrbers of qocodiles sightcd wcre: tB numbersighted Ngoto6oliCrccl LO 0 Para6oBay 0 Vilage Irgoor 03 0 Total 7I \rrlagersliviDg on thc lagoonncar t[e mouthof NgokosoliCreek reported sighting a larye ctocodilch thc vilage lagoo4 a bclly slidelcadhg ftom NgokosoliCreelq ard tf,e taling of a d,ogaDd chictem by thc crocodile,They also rcponed the lilling ofa lctrtalecrocodilc and its 'outrg some4 ],carsago. We viqrcd wiat mayball bcro as old b€[y slidcbut couldnot confumit. Thc w.tcr temperatucof frarhwaterNgokosoli Crect wasa high3-f,C anda highsulfur snell prerailed-Thc streae (.n oDly.bcnegotiated by $r\rcy caloe for oneka upstreambccaGe of rapid shoaliDgand evcl this ca. ody bc dorc witl safetyat highlNatcr. Thc s&camis heavilyftiDgcd with cocodutatrd sago pals3 andthc arcais un&r i ersivccdtivatioa. Thc vilagc lagoon,also ,t5 idtcDrcv ftirgcd witt p"l-s sas suriEycdat nighrusitg e smalldwout canoc.No qocodilcswcre sightci h,yu3 a6dr€ cenoDly condudc that thc vilag. lagooak visitedoc.asioraly by thc odd rcmlatrt crdilc ir ihc arca- Wc wrrc told tiat other arcaron Vclla lavclla wrrc rcDortedto havcevea fewcr cocodilc thrn thc Paftso Bayarca C. Rcndoea Thc two sD.ll isiand ftcsheatcrlatcs ard thc tsrolagoons od RenardCovq Mburara Bay,wcrc survcycdon th€ nidt of z/ Awust 1989(for zc.o startingpoiDt! sec Rerdova 150,000sc.jc dap., shcct8/15710): Irngitu& lrtitude Renard Corc '.Jr21.7E 833.7S Tnis arcahad bccD visitcd by BeldeDPitu i! 1986whe! hc took soEc 20 crocodilesftoE thc lalc,r. He dr.larcd ihat hc aaw'trlrdcrous'crocodilcs largc atd soal, especia.lyin thc largcrof tte two lal6" We rere told by locai! that tu onc hadbccn hurtiry i! the areasbce his visit ir 19t]6.they *cre wrong somcoachad dcarcd the largelale of crocodiles,somctimc before our arrival. DistalcassurlEy€d and lumb€is of crocodilcsightcd wcrc: ltn lumber sighted Flrst lagooa 0.9 0 Sccod lagootr l3 1 falgc latc 05 1 Soall lalc 03 9 Total 3.0 11 Thc sizc classcsof the 11 D. Tctiparc. B€cau!€ of rrfortcd docodiles itr the sdall lale at Tavara on Waugh Bay, the latc rld bay pErc surEycd oa ttc nighaoI28 August 1989(for zcro starting poiit see Readoi.a t50,0m s[,b Eaps, sh€et 8/1tl10). l,lgitudc lltitude Tavlre Lalr lsrnE 8r4L8'S Distarccssultryed arrdNmb€rs of .rocodil* sighred*crc: tn uusbcr sightci Tavara klc 1.0 0 Waugh Bay 0 Total 46 Tar€raLaj(c has good habitat for crocodilqs,thoogh thc presenc€of nnEcrousworteis od tic suroundingcocorut plattatioD could account fo. thc zcrocoud This is ar cisrllent lale for co$iderationfor r.stockiDgrritf, socoditcs. E OtherArcas Sailcd Tq But Food Not Worth Suveyi.g We *rrc givcatic namcsof Gocodilehurters iu thc NewGeorgia Group of idandswho wc co aded for sugg€stcdareas to be suweyc4 Thisiclded rc ncw areas*'orth suri€yiD&but did alow us to vicw four g'ouF of capti\€ crocodileswiich the olr|rers,id d€spcratioD,hoFd *ould prwide the nuclerxfor four crocodi[ farms. The placs aadindividuab virited werc: - , HoDbupcl(a K. Yalata ii a hidc atrdBlell d€alerwho buys crocodile stin6 browht to hin from lvesrer[ Provitc€dcas ard sp€ciallyfrom aroutrdthc NewGeorgia Group of islaads"Wc sightcdhis 10captiec ."iq"l., 7(2'3),1(34,), and4+t He is hopingto userharc as a tourist attlactroD- Nu6a Hopc - Sac Ola is an eldcrly and Lno*lcdgcabtc fo.mer cocodilc hust€r whq six years agq rerognizcd tfat thc ciocodilc resourcca|as di.sappeariry rapidly in the SoloEon klands. He obtaircd eggsfroE tf,c wild.nd rcarcd ia c.privity 46.7) and 1(7{) crocodiles.wiich *cre ia excellcrt codditiotr He also obtaind froo thc wil4 ir 198q [GD, a|1d7(]4') admats. He sratcd that 6ocodilc6 wc.c dow sighted only sporadicallyaad usually tjllcd by individuals sightiry then. He srated that suveying would provc unrewarding Mborcho - Romld Davis, a ciocodile huoter ir tlis arca, had two captivc crocodile4 1(5{'), ad 1(7-8'), both in excellentcondition His arca had b€etr shot out and siace tbcrc no longer were aay docodiles to hu , hc gaic u,r a 12 giugc shotgunto retum to Bcldetr pit|r PcaiB, NggatokaeIsland - Geffty Natc showrd u5 t[e lj socodile,s hc and his fathcr were raising for a crocodile farming op€ratiotr- D.. Coli! McQueen of the Vet€rinary Division in Honiara originally etrcorraged them in tlis undertaling All 15 animals wcre in good coodition ard a new erclo6ue was beirg €rcctcd for them. TIie r:,(+t), 1(5{'), and 1 (67) a.d,rats had all beer obtained ftoE tbe Russcl Islands. c€frry staled that soodiles *€!e row rarcty sightedia the arca of NggatokaeIsland ad that it was dost uriik€ly that a.oywould bc sighted during a surrcy. He said he wished hc could tell us othcrwis€. This *Es why they bad to obtaid thei gocodilcs ftoE the Russell Islands, which they did h $a?. Apparcrtly, only a widEly s{attered reEDart number of Gocodil€s .emain in the Wesrem Provinca 6. C€ntral Provim!. A. RusscUIslalds. We surve'€d the otrc area h the RussellIslandq where it was believed lhat a small rcmnant populdiotr of oocodilcs stif existe4 evcd though the area had b€etr heavily huded duriDg 1 E ard 10 qocodiles shot therc. kl.c Tataq Modoluon rrh'4 w"s suvc,€d od tbe night of l Septsob€r l9E9 (for zcro sraniry point sc. Russ€UIstads tt),od) scaledaps, shect 9/159/1): Lngitude lltitude Lalc Tatac 159d0558 9()85S This lalc provcd to codtaiI! thc secondb€st populaaionof crocodil€sthal e€ cncoude.ed itr our sulr/cy oftf,c Solodrod Islands. Tte, qocodilas sightedalorg the 15 km perincter of the lske were ilr thc followitrg sizc dasscs: 18(E), 1(&7), 1(7-A), (EO<6),4(EO>6'), ad z{EO). Hutrtirg of Gocodiles on thc lakc durirg 1988could account for thc abscnccof ttc (2{) size classcs B. Florida Islads Arcas worth suneying for cocodilcs atc few od the Florida Isla.n&. AccordiDgto Pcte. Beat4 ar old timc cocodile hurt€r on thc blands, the best reEaidirg arca was Utuha Prssagcwith a numbcr of small creels ruoaiag ilto it. Our dayrinc suvcy of thc arca rcvcalcd that thc Dain dclt draiairg tlc Passagclad a vilag. oo it Therc *rrc gar o upatrcaf oI thc EaDgrovcs€diotr" Wc wcrc plcnsantlysurpriscd whetr xrc survcy€i tle arcaon thc trightof3 S€ptember19E9 (for zcrostartiag points se.c Florida Lland6 t50,0m scalemaF, sheet 9lrfi/2)l Lorgitudc ktitudc UtuhaParsaga arca ftTl&4'E 9045 Midst caE di.stamrssurvet€d and nunbcrs of crocodilesighted sere: LE trunrbcrsighted Utula Passagc 9.9 1 Tambfi Crcct aaLE 0.0 on UtubaPassagc 050 Knidi Crt.L at ln 9A or Utuha Pas6age 1.0 2 Total 11.4 Thc sizcclas:cs of the 3 animabsigbrd wcrc.47-8) ard 1(&9). It i.rirtcrestiDg to lotc that\rc spotrcdmo.c crocodilesb Centlal Provircctha! in anyothcr, erccplfor Guqddc&al 7. GuadalcanalProvincc. Duri.g the nighb of 4 6 and? Septemb€r198q we survcycdtlree areas(for zerostaning poiDa!scc Gradalcanal t50,000 Eapg shc.ts9/10 /r1\ 9/l@ /A, Md 9/Kn /$)l Longitudc Latitude ljkoro l-agood' 160p36'E 934.1'S lauvi taSoon rtr?3.gE 9P53.1,S Mati[a-warclau area ff(r€3E 9P49.81S Distalc.s suvryEdard noEban ol crocodilessightcd were: fo dunbcr sighted l.I Thc lumb€r and sizc drarer of thc qocodilas sighted in l,auvi kgooo *crc 9(H), 31(2-3), L0(34'),1(+r),1(>7),)6(EO<6'), 4(EO>6 ), ad 10(EO). Thc 43 pcrccnr of rhe aaimals rhat cor d not be approachcdto allory an accuratc sizc estimatiot rcsultc4 firsq from thcir beiEgvcry wary, which cou.ldbc accourted fo. by thcir continurd hultbg a!4 s€cot4 bccauscthcrc verc floatirg Eats of grassalong thc lagoon shors which could not bc pcDctratedby a sEall dirghy atrd kcpt us awayftoo the aninal& l,awi Ilgoon tumcd out to b€ tbe last Dajo. sooDgholdof thc saltwatcr crocodile in the SoloEor klald& Thc tx,o olhet arc.s survcycdon Guadalcanalproduced r€sults simila. to thcse fourd olr mo6t of th€ othcr Solomoa klands - do animab fouad or orly 6caftcrcd rcmratrts ofa ford€r population foond" Wo siShtci captiw ali!|ais otr Cuadalcanalat threr places. Ch. es Rickon has 1(ru') cocodile ar Kopin vilagc; Betikama High School rcar Honiara has 1(910') docodile; ard Beldcn Pitu hrs 54 crocodil€s itr thc foloeiDg sizc dasser: 14(2-3), 21(14), 6(+t), 11(5i), ad 2.(G7). € DrsctssloN. ,q" Habitat. Gcrcrally spcalir& thc hatritat for cocodilcs i! the Solomon klands b at bcst. margitrai, Thcra alc rc encDsivcc,Etiands ard few loag EcanderiDg rilcrE thc p.ef€rrcd homc of the saltwatcr crocodile, a6 thcrc are h PapuaNew Guirca and Australia" Most island riirrs and cf,eet6 dse ia thc stecp hils and nountaiDs inmediately behind a ra'tow corstal fthge ofvcgctation drd a3a conscqueftr ale unusuallyshort. Becauscof h€avyrailIall the input of froshwater L high ad the rivcrs, cree\ ad sprirys are normally ftesh dowa to *it!i! a fcw hudrcd Ect€rs of thlr mourns. Somc of thes€ providc good habitat fo. crocodilesand the alluvial soils are exclllcnt a!:e€sfor rillace garde8. Fanncrs ucat thc crocodil* as itrEin and quicly clear them ftom the area. rMth an anlual huma.dlropulatio! growtf, of over 3 pqccat, pressorcfo. use of fertilc soils is grcat Thc crocodilc hrs urue of tro cnancclor sutvtv{l ltr such arces. Ttc coastsof Dost of thc isla.nd.ai! the Solo6or Islatrd cbab arc ftinged by coral rcefs, arrd maay shalloq maagrove-fritrgcdbays contair ruoerous patch recfs as !rcII. For crocodilc.s,this is formidattle tcrrai!.trd is uscd wheo thcy arc excludcdfrom morc fa\rorablc a.€as or l,hcn travellinr iom one arca to a[otbca. Thowh thc Solomon Islads lacks erceDsivefteshwater swamDs.it doesharc a $na.ll number of fteshwatcr or bracLbh lalcsr often shown oa oaps as bgootrs. Tteie are touad ou smalt islaadg soDe 50 to 1m E from thE scashore'or up to 2ln idand or ttc larger islads. Accessto these lales cd bc vc.y difrodt. Thcy are oftc! &aided to thc sea by rery small creel(s. Thcse lakes app€ar ro nw provide the last havctrof refugc and breedirg areasfor the rcmainbg cocodiles ia tbe loboon Islads. U ortuately, there are oDIya few of thesc lal@sscatleied throughout the island chain that are rcmotc etroughtrot !o b€ Degatirclyiopaded by rcarby villagas. Hutrters are also well ac,are of 'ciocodilc thc lakes, as arc hop€fuI famc.s who obta;n tlEir docodil€ stock hom th. lakes. Most have bccn dcared of docodiles or arc s€v€relydeplet€d- B. Status. It is appare that there remai.s o y oDesarall real populatior of saltwater (rocodiles in tl€ Solomor lslaads; l,auvi Lagootr or Cuadalcaral The no( rwo largest populations are in l,ale Tatac in the Russell Islandsadd i! Chalirahobo l,agoon on Sa.ntaIsab€I. In 6eparatelobsrs in th€ Tablc below e/€ show thc du'lbcrs and sizs classesof crocodiles siCt€d in Lawi Irgooo, i[ lake Tatag in Chahirahobo t agooo, ard tbose foutrd ilr all other localities, and thc to{al& Tho6c sigbrcdir other localities cotrsisredof a nudbe! of suagglers- the widcly scattered$rnivitrg.eDltaot ota oace helthy population Sadly,the ctocodile rcsourc€ ofthe SoloDoB Glan& csscatiauybas becl dastroyed Numbcr of Crccodil€s lruvi Ghahira.hobo Tatac Other l,ocalcs To(al 2-!3L3539 (0.fi.9 n) 3-4' 10 1 (0.9-1.2n) 4-9 G2-1Jn) (15-1.8n) (1.&21d) 4) (>zIqI EO<6 (<1.8E) EO >6' (>13 m) EO 10 16 15 n Aaothcr *ay ofviewingthis is showtrir thc Teblcbelow where wc havedivided thc aaterways sutwyedilrto enclos€dlagoou (virtuaUyftcsbc,afer lates), saltvratcrlagoons with op€oingsto thc sca, ri\,€i! andarccls (Eo6tlyftcsf,wate.), atrd saltwarer baF ad chr'lcle Thc nuobe. of thesesurvcyc4 distance.surrc,,E4 and nosbcrs of c.ocodilassight€d ir th€6 i! shov/Dalso. Nurb€i Distamr (k a) Crocs sighted surrc,€d Etrd6cd hgoonr 10 m3 1l3t Saltwaterlagoons 8 7 Riiras andcrccls T 47.7 8 Baysaad chamcls m 815 9 Totd 17J.0 t77 4\ Ovcr86%, 153 out of 1Z of the crocodileswerc sighted in the freshwaterlagoons and from the FeviousTable it is cvided that aldost aI (f4) of thescwerc sighted in threelagoors osly. Of rh€ fl crocodilessighte4 41 werc hat.hli.g., denotedby tie subscriptfigtlle i.nthc Tableaboi€, and evcryotrc ofttass hatcbling6werc sightedh thc etrdos€d&eshwater lagooDs. Not onewas sighled id the 30.iveG aadcreels sufl,e'c4 Eary olwhich hadexclllent breeding babitat. The,scwatorwa's had b€.r .<.€nti.lly clcal(d of brc€dirg stocl abdody srragglcrsrcEaidcd. It i6 Ft[ap6 surprfuingthat 7 arimalswrrc sightedin the saltwaterlagooDs ard 9 in the bats andcba![cb, Ttcsc arcasarc aorDallyused by idmatulc socodilcstnat the largebreeding animals cxcludc,wil trot tolcratcia ttc brcedingarcas, or th€yaro a.trinabnoviry AoD ooc areato arm{her. Thc aumbcrr€ fotrd i! theseare$ i! probablyi icatirc ofthc huding pressureitr the breedidg arcasin ftcshwaterlagmns aad rirprs aadcrccks. Notealso the few animalssighted in the (47) classe,s.Though Me,rscl ha6 poiDfcd out rcp€atedlythat tbc.c is a severebiological 'botderccl' for ariEals i! tlcsc sizcclasser f,'hich rcrsally wouldac.ourt for thcir scarcity(for iDstancc,s€e tlre populatioDEodcl i! ModographZ) of hb suvcy s€ricspublishcd by PcrgamonPrcss), tte populatioDs sightcdin tlc SoloDo! Islalds areEo saall that it rould bc slrprising of this wasso here. It is litely that a numbcrof ttcse animalsare includcd in the thrcc EO classcs" Onc ney asl whal ftadioa ofthc cocodile corrailritrgLabitar wBr sun€ycd by u5, It is difrcut to araw. this with prccisio!- AlEo6t aI of thc arcas,wbich Ltrowlcdgeabl€ hunters felt were worth suw€yin&wclc suflcycd I! thc c.sc of ctrclo6cdltgoo.s, some80 percentof tlos€ worthsurveyi[& v,€re surveyed. Thc 6amcappli.6 for saitratcr lagoou, althoughtlclc wrrc maaynorc whichcou.ld harc bccn suncycd,had local tuatcn andidabitarB lot statcdcEphatically that thc arcahad bccn cssentiatly clarcd of (ro(odilcs, Wc p.obablydid lot $rwcy Dor. tha! a fcw pcrccrt of suweyablcbrF a.rd chan&La Sirceody tdnnart stragglcrcrocod;Ies rcrraiD, one might occasionaly bc sightedin almost atrybay or cvc! thc opcBsEa. Uddcr thcsccircumst&cc! all tinds of concdio! fadors - dcpctrdiry oa an iadividual'simaginatior - clr bc applicdto ttc dumbcrof crocodilcssigtrtcd durbg tf,c course ofthc aunry. 50 BecauseoI thc lew animalsvE cdcountq..4 usiDgstatistical eeaDs to gain atr estimatc of thc adu.l ludber of crocodilesin thc SoloEor lslands is Wc belie\rethat there Eay be arothcr frc,shwEtcrlagoon or t*o c4uiv6lent to Gbahirabobo or Lalc Tatac that wBsrot surlcyci, but tlerc c€rtai!.ly is not anot!€r cquivEle to kuvi LagooD. Basfd or suvcyirg cxperiencc in Australi4 wr can gsrerously assumethat th€ sighting ftactioD for crocodilqsin thc ercloscd lagoou l{as only 5t) pe.ceDt. Itr additioo to cov€r the ursurveyedwaterway\ the number of cf,ocodiLe,jsee! i! tbe saltc/ate! lagooE, and riiErs ard crcclE caa bc libcrally nultiplied by 10 atrd that of tbe bays aDdchannels by 20. Ttfu produccaa'guesstimate' of [2(153+42)+ (10/) + (1m) + (z!d)l = 720 crocldiles, a5a maxiEun. It should agah be srr€ss€dthat, other than i! the sDall eacloscdlagoors, thc rcmaining af,ocodil€sarc widely scafteredthroughout t[e somc 9O islandsof thc chah ad Lhcchancc of brelders meltiDg dust be sdall C. 'Custom Crocodiles' At s€verallocatiors during tiis $rvet we were told by local petple that thc rcalon we {€rc aot Endirg Eany crocodileswar b€caus€tles€ were'custod crocdilcs'which caa oaly bc scca by a fw traditioaal SoloEon klandcrE that tbe crocodileswere the.g but that wc could not scc theE. Siglifidnrly, these coBmerts .lwaF c.Ec from villag€ft and not froE local crdilc huDters. If the ability to s€edocodil€s is a trait unique to 'cuslomary islanders' thar the lcad€rs of t[c survoytcam, vho co[cctivcly havc 40 ycars cipdiclce studyiDg17 of the 25 tecogDizcd spccic6ard sub6pc.icsof docodilians iD dorc than 15 natiooE du.iDg which they havecersuse4 captuic4 and handled dorc tha! 1m,0m [rr cocodiliaDs ard haw cxamiftd orcr 1,000,000 crocodilian hides, havc su.ely eamed the right to s€€atry crdilcs customaryor rot. D. Numbcr oI Cfocodiles ia Forncr Tines. How daDy cocodiles were there in the Solomon Islads in former tides? ode will never know for certain because,as elsewhere,ro previous systeBatic suvcy ofthe docodile population bad beeo carri€d out. Furthormor€, ir former timeg recortls of qports of crocodile slios wer€ no! maintained and cven in rcccnt timcs records hare been sca.nt.We .rc this coap€lled to rely upon bformatiod provided by former and presert day crocodile hunters. It is ditEcult to a.6s€ssthc reliability of such bforEatiod othet than by obtaining it from many hutters on difrcrcDt blands, This we di4 Thc folowing broad pidurc cmcrges" App:ready thc ('(rodile, evetrthough it, alotg with thc sharlq app€arsoD thc ratioDal cEblcm of tic SoloEon Islands, has b€eDlooked upod gpdc.aly as rrrsi! ard trcatcd as sucL Thus whcn Australiaa cxpatriatc hunters,who b€comewcll acquahted *itl thc Solomon Llards dudng t!€ secod rio.ld war, startld shooting Gocodiles i! tlc late 1950sand durbg the 1%& and early 1yl0s tlcy wcrc w€lcoEcd. Many ofthc oldei hudets atld grudeswho helpcd us witf, tic prascdt sufl/Ey,*orftcd gladly with thc expatriatar to help shoot out thc Gocodilcs. One of the MastcB of our sunryvessel Harry Maeata, wasone such itrdividual who helped. otr all the islad! rc suri€yc4 the mme of DeDnisRorne caEe up timc ald time again as one of the cxpatda6 shooteis, Frcddic ForsytheKa,€ was anoth€. nam. which was meDtiooed Every ore of tf,o irdigca€s statcd tiat tle crocodilc resourc! had bcc! largc ard could be gaugedby tf,e fad that h the 195G ard 19@3thc hurtcrs obtairc4 otr avcragq 4to5 stils of IargF arinals eacb night. od som€ nigLt!, thcy ob{aine! as l|raoy I20 largc admals. Duirg thc Fcsedt sorvet only i! lanrvi l,agoon did we sight a few largp aniEals ard beausc of thcir l|rliDers ody one could be approachcd- Apparcndy, ev€r ttowh the majority of thc habitat for socodilcs ir tbe Solomor Islands is narginal thc populatioa siz! was largc ard dust havc talc! a i€ry long time' Ecasutcd iD cenrufles,to icacL thatsiza We are unablc to saymorc than pcrhaF it w'! a latge as the crocoalilepopulatior of Austftli4 bur lcs3thatr that of PapuaNew Guinca. we camot substa.ntiatcthis estimate fiuther. E Protectivc Measurcs. By the nid-19?0s, thc r,rluablc crocodile .esource had bccn scverely depleredaad tf,e expatriatc hu crs dcprn.d- Thc indigeoes howEver,cotrtitrucd to hutrt tie aDimal both a3vcrmir that occa3iodaly attacled humanE lgE dogs, and chickenE and becausccrocodile hide 5l Ficls PErchigL Thcyprovided ialuabtc supPlcmcEta.y frrnds for individualsofa locallutaistetrcc papoa ccodony._.-By iht tidc, India,AuEtrali4 alrd NcrvGuiaea had rccogized thc daagErof losing atrj tTt stcF :le.croc{iq to implcoeat naragemmr ptaq enruriogric survivalof til sp.aer ala lncu€EnaDarutrrrzatior otr a sustaircdicld ba!i& The solomodIslands was at this timc is the thro€s or rahing indcpcadeftaad did mt foflowrhc lcadof Indi4 Aust ali4 ard papuaNew cuirca. Thc glipg €ontinue4-*ithoutgncral rccogaitionthat a valuablccconomic rcsour; *as bciDgd€st oycd Evctras larc as 1982,an ryatriatc hutrtcrel6 r€lcodcd to hclp clca, the lcmainirg o.-L clo"oal"* Hore!€r, iD 197elegi5latioo v€5 cnactedto p.ohibfutf,c exportof skis snaller O"i SO *ia. io tl" bclicfthat it Eiqlt h€lpprotcct rhc crocodilcresourc.. By a[,o*irg tbc adultbreeders to "- b€ tillcd ofr, it did thc oppo6itc. Ia the SoLomoaIslaads, crocodilqs.rc goup€d rith 6sh i, tlc F,shefiaiAd of 1972 TLh, is defilcd as.'aryaquatic -in4 ehctherpiscilc or dot andincludes...crocodilc aad tuttlc, andyoulg aDd€gga thcrcof ...." Regulafiot10 of thc Act colr.s crocodilesand in ql7 wascLargcd to rcad: 'Ary persodwho s€lls or o(pos€sfor sale-a.nycrocodile or crocodileskia the bcllv width of whicl ir lesstian 50 centimeteB..ltall be guiltyof an offence...," 'Prolidcd ttat thi! rcgulationshall tut applyin rclatiooto a.nycrocodilg o. skid of ariy crocodilc..re.rcdh a hrm liccnsedunder any Regulatioas....' As far asx,€ ha@ been ablc to aacertai.,thie,cgulation had aot bceneaforced. Tte cxpo( of skiu ol cocodilesof dl sizls tater ftom th€ wild ha\r'cbccr, andcodinue to bc, sanctioncn.Aiaay rate,sincc saltwater cocodil€s do not stan bre€dhgUntit they arc at least2 m (iemalcs)to 3j m (nal€s) loDga.d havea bcly width of 45(d, crfo.cedert of tbc Iegislatiouwould ensurc t[at txe crocodil€sbreeding resourcc would bc s€verelydepleted - asit hasbeen _- and p€rhaps, fmally b€ totally dcstroyed- youicti _ F. C.ocodileSti! Erports. Mr. Talehara,MaMging Director of HoriuchiTrading gTeary_o{ Tgkyq Jary'l tindly supplicdfigures for cro-al*t i.po.t"a UyU" companyfrom rhe SolomodIda.ds - sc! Tablcbclow. Mr. HcEy ka, Pri&ipailCorsrr%tio! Ofnccrof thc EnviolmeDt andCoos€ryatiod Divisiotr, SolonotrIslarjs Ministry of NaturalResourccs, provided the folos,iDgfigurcs fo. the crpo.t of crocodilcsti!3 froE tlc SolomotrIslads: Bellyitrcte.i Value(S.Lt) 1985 4163 10,405 1986 4350 10,873 1 1 6445 !1cp3 1988 47n SruE of tte blolmatiod suppliedby Mr. Taleharaand Mr. Isa iodic.r€sthat Eoriuchi TradingCo. basbcetr inponiry rowhly oic haff ofthe.f,ocodilcstj!3 e4|ortedfroE th€ Solomotr lslands. Fllntc.morc, the TalcharaTablc iadicares that t[e lumb€r of idport€d stins *ith bellv widt!6 20 irchcs o grearcr(> 50 d) hasde.rcascd boo 63 i.n1983 to ?a ir 1988.Tbc 19896gues could bc abcrralt sincchullers c/€rccocouraged to gct crory stis theycould thi! Fa.. At sevcral p|acc4duflng t[c corrscot our 6utvcy,wD rcra r[clcomedbecaus! villagcrs bcliei€d *€ hadcoEe to clcarout tlc rcn'ining fcw ctocodilcs Cmcdthts pdo&$ hidrs inportcd &om thc Solomo! Islaads by Horiuchi Tradiag width ,E3 'u ,E5 ,86 a7 ,88 'E9 Total 2 2 t 1 4 5 t2 41 51 1 8 15 8 19 6 J) 1 44 44 16 48 T' 10 10 8 1!) 614 90 11 715 7 72 t2 v 2, 14 2, 15 11 151 $ 12 10 16 19 613 12, 14 30 810 75 15 N 18 614 7 90 16 5 62 15 512 76 15 8 64 U 47 18 99 IL 411 61 t9 16 6 75 6 87 55 m 107 9 2l 7 44 7 46 ti 49 65 45 E 62 6 46 1 2 35 19 5 62 1 2l 2L 26 I 2 1 11 1I n 2 1 I l1 10 1 1 3 I I 7 a z 1 3 1 31 2 I 2 I 1 v I t2 4 35 I 0 I 38 1 1 40 0 4l 1 1 43 1 4 1 45 0 s L 47 0 48 t rB 92 150 tT3 192 r08 14 |3?3 53 'FarD6' G. Crocodilc .nd Ralchirg: Duriq tlc courscof . 'farm&' tf,e surrcy,c\rry opporturysms tal€d to visit crocodilc Tbcscl2 socallcd farEs conrai&dfron I !o 54 ,ni-,i. eacL Thc lusb€r ard sizeclaascs of the captivcadnals s€€[ in cacf.farn'arc givenil thc Resul6. The Teble bclowshows thc sizcclassar a[d total captivrcrocodil€6 s€cn Capti!€ Crocodiles Sizc in Fe€t Nurbcr of Crocs (octers) Eatchlirg (0.6{.9) 34' A (0.e12) +! (12-15) ft' (1513) (1.&2.1) 111 _- _, CfTFS lefi.R captive propagatior as inle$ive matragedeat under captive conditioos which r€liably will produce ar Flgercratior (secoddgEreralio[) &oDr parents born o. hatched in captivity. Such an operation which prodtccs ofrspring from parcrts bred itr captivity is defucd as i.farm., gry._d.p *Id or,ou.g ftomtie wil4 ror froD capriveparertq for rcarhg 'rancL'"!91e88! h captivity is defacd asa FarDsarc clo6€d-g,clco!'e.atio!s indepeadeatof tie wild popubtlons,white ralchcs arc opc!-cycleoFatioDs &pendcnt on *ild eggsor youag. Ttcrc is no viablcaocodile farE in thc SolomonIstatr& rt thc presenttime atrdthcre |s urlil@lyto be o|ren.less a Euch Do.e profc6siolalapproach is taken. Oaeor two,or cven54, intmatllrc alimals docsnot coDstitutca docodile farm. It tales 8 to 10,Ears for a fcmaleaDd 15 to 16 yearsfor a Eale Cpor"nr to reac! b.eeditrgsizc. Nole of tic c€ptivearimals seen ia the,farms,had bred in captivity,and siDce mtre of the.farm,cnclosutei contaidcd pools sufrcieatly largc aad&cp (> lJ tn), it ir ullitely tlat thcy evcrwil b.ccd udcr qrtrcDt 'farE6' t[e husbandrycoaaitlons. nc cxisting ca$ot c!€r oFEratcas ralches sircE, wi&out a hcalrhywild populatior,ncithcr cggsnor hatclding caabc collcacd &on tlc wild for stoctiagthe rafthcs. - Prartic.Ily cvcryhop€frrl crocodilo falmcr x,€spolc to €xpr€ssedgreat interest in Gocodile farDi[g alrdwaDted Eorc idoroatior ot it Tbcyscrc eost alrdousto comdcrciallyfarm thc very rcsourc€wticl somany of tleE ashurtcrs bad bclpcd to d€stroyid thc wild. Most of themexpressed so..owat not haviogrcalizld wtat iEpad tleir hortiDgwas havirg Elrry "oEmerciallysucces.sful crocodile cnterp.isc ia tbe *orld dependsto a ryi8g degce upoarourism and/or ranching.Lauvi kgoon is thc o!.lysitc i! the SolomodIslar* wlicl in OJ uear futurc '.nigb!wirl propcrprolcctioo and eEcctivc Eanagcaett, bcco8e a tourisD/ra&hing eoterprirc. Otbcr lagoonsitcs wil rcquirestdngcnt protectiotr for at least5 to 10yca.s b€fore th.ir popu!.tion6*ill bavcr.covsed sufrcicdly to allo\r ary sustainedyicld cxploitatio!- HowEver,this will .cquir€ c.rcful amual chcckiDgbcforc atryanima& arc taLer. I H. Concluions atrd RecoDmedlatiotr& 1, Crocodilca i! thc Solobon Islad! havc bccl ard stiU arc gcdcrally looLed upo! as \,€rmi!, and not as a valuablc rcsourc€. 2" Thc crocodilc rcsourcc of thc Solomoo klatrds hasbecl severelyileplcted aad oDly. very sBaq $idcly scatteft! rcEDant population rcnains 3. Unlars urgcot and staict meariuncsarc talcn to proted thc spccicE thc salt{,-atcrGocodilc may soon bccoE€ cdiftt in tf,c Solomon Islaads 4. Thcrc i5, af prcsc4 ao commcrcially viable crocodilc farm or ranch b thc Solomon Islands ad this wil rct clanga unlcssimmcdiate actiod is talea oow to cooservethe wild populatior- 5. Ttc rcneiriDg crocodilc rcsourc! is so sdall that a crocodile raffhing proposal b out of thc qucatiod for e lllDbcr of ycnrs, 6. There do€snot erisr id the Solomon Islan& any efrectivc legislatior to protect and cors€rvo the crdilc. 7. Fcw Solooor Island€rs,with thc cxceptioo of the cocodilc huntcrs, are awarc that thc crocodilc populatioB arc so drngarously dcplet€d We recoeEetrd tlat: A" Thc wild crocodile populatioa of thc SoloEotr IslatrdsrcmaiDs or Appcndix I of CITES. B. A total cxport bar o! crocodile skios of all sizesand from all sourccsitr the SoloEoa Islar& iEncniatcly bc cstablishcdatrd efiedively iEpledeDted. Suct a ba.nsbould remain in effecr for aminim m of 5 yca$, after which it should bc rcviewed. C. A permare ban o! stins taken &oo thc wild, whoocbely widtl is greater than 45 cm should bc impoGcdto proted thc b.eedbg stocl. D. The Solomo! Islald ce[tral govcrnmetrtand provhcial authorities imm€diat€ly comm€ncethe task of educatingthe public about tie vital importaice of conservirg their latural resouces :rdd national heritagp,irdudiDg {rocodileq for the tutore benefit of tleir citizlls. E, Thc ccntral aad/or prwircial govcmmentslind some way to protect and corr,enc tie r€mrining socodilc rcsourcc. We rccognizc tlat ia thc Soloood Islalds, wildlife belongs to the traditional landowncr, but if the *ant rasourc! is to b€ savedthe gor€rsmeits must 8l1d a way of codvinchg thc landoercE to proacctthc wild populations atrd their habitats. Spccial ar€as such as thc ftcshratcr lagooosshould b€ given prioritt co8idelation. F, Thc gwcrDEcDts discouragctaling crocodilas from ttc wild to stock so called 'farms' which are ulilcly m bccomc cconomicallyviablg clcrpt as a tourist att actio!. G. Thc statuBof thc crocodile populatioDri.n Ilwi ard Ghatiralobo kgoo[s, and i! lales Tatae, Korr4 atrd MatiEi atrd those i.n Renard cove b€ noaitorcd annually. Actnwlcigcneats Thcrc arc Eany agcDcieqorganiatiods, a.ndp€oplc to Galrk ald without who6chelp the clceediDglycooplex and diffiqrlt suwey could trot har€ b€er codpleted, Fust G the CITES Secretariat which laborcd hanl to raisc t[c t|nds for a surveywbich it felt v,asurg€nt ad long ov6due. Sccord i3 tte soLomonIslaB& Minislry of Natural Rcsourccse.hich *holeheartedly encouragedthe suftey. wc sil.acly thart cach ard cwry onc of thc nuEcrous i.dividuals h thc dozcDsof placls wc n€ye4 though tl.jy arc siEply too Eary to daEc individualy. For thc e irc sDrvcyperio4 thc suvey ship, thc 'MV Meoor/, bad the followirlg staft Master- Jots Jobrso! Hiru S€@rdMastcr - Harrt Marnata Eogh€€r- DebcrerFoli C.cw - GeorgeWaletofg Silvaror Dodq JohsSorova and Ludavico Albcn 55 Ew ti.6€ ildividualssailcd tle rEss€lat right tbroughrccf st ewnwaterg orcr thou$rd6 of hlod€terg sithouf an cchosourdcr o. .adar,rcaairs a dFtery to us. perhapsthc traditioral woodet sajLlilgt4isDan ehich Harry MaEatahad boutrd to thc uF[rcrEa$ of the rcssll badsomcthiDg to do c,ithil Iapas giH to him by hi! fattcr manyycars ago and haj stoodttis incrediblcsailor in good steadevcr sidcc" GcrryWhcw€ll Corlcriatioa O6ccr in thc Midsfry of Natual Resourccs,in additionto b€iDgthe adive rcprcs€Dtativcfroo tic Minisfry,fi'sr aded asa.survey-lcamer obG€rvctr atrd soon mastcrcdthc basicsofthciltricatc techdqucofdocodile suveyirg. He i5 ihe oDlyiddividual in tlc SoloEonIslads todaywho sf,outd b€ ablcto carryor tf,c firture tas! oI oodtoriry the cocodile populatiotr&Srn.on Dioko ir nowa wcll-traincdsurvcy caroc driver andpaddler. Hals Wag&r, *€ll tnwtr naturopd[ froE Sydn€ytept usit goodhcaltf, wit! his prcparatioBsof cxc€llentSoloDo! kladr fruit ad \€grtabl€sdurins thc lasttc,o w€cLsof the survcy. 56 ApFndix 1. SriIog Tlm.r To &rd I'roD SurrcyAI€€s SANIA CRT,Z Sat29 Jul - l,ata - > Dcdu on Ncldo kland by caroq 06fiI09m hr Tue 1AW - Lr|emoatrda-> llta bt canoc;06304q30hr 3hr MANRA Sun6 AW - l(aonasugla-> Na MWl4 StarHarbori (1745{930br 6br Tuc 8AW - Na Mugha-> Marar Islard Bay;070G0030ht 2 hr 30 nia Wcd 9 A g - MarauHarbor -> ManawaiHarbor; (B10{850 br 5hr 40nin Thu 10AW - Mana{ai Ha6or - > Tawarogha.> MalaupainaIsla!4 ThreeSisters Group;0m(X)830 hr ad 090G1250 hr 12hr z) nir MAI.AIIA Fri 11Aug - MalaupainaIslad .> Apiq 01fi)-0800br Apio -> TahaRiicq 100GUm ht 1bt Satla Aug - TahaRivcr - > Apio; 19f-2058 br thr 40Eir Sunt3 AW - Apio - > Su\p€inc Bayfor klc Korca;O71t0835 hr 1br z) Dir Su'uFinc Bay.> Ahonawai202L2135 hr 1k 15nin Mon 14Aug - Alenaesi .> Apio; 062G065hr 5 min Apio - > Rutaorea;fil39104{) bi 3br 5dir Rutaorca-> Rohioariin WaisGiHarbor: U05-125 br z) nid WaisisiHaftor -> Si'uaBay; 82G1}() br z) nir Tue 15Aw - Si'uaBay - > Talatali 0300'0715hr 4 br 15mitr Talalali -> Auti; 0830-094hr 50 dir SANTAISABEL Wed 16AW - Auki -> Irleghia 00m4805hr 8hr 5ei! lrlcghia . > villagcaear Potofa'a Cre*;085(H910 br 20min Potofa'aCrccl .> Kael,alga;0925-1000 hr 35 min Kaoeaiga-> KaipitoRivc8 1025-1045hr KaipitoRivcr -> Kacvaiga;1UG1250 hr z) Dit Thu f Aug - facvaiga .> Irlegb4110G112Oht 20 Bit L.lcghia -> KaevaDga;195S2110 br 20 min tiacvarg -> Kia; 22l&1430hr 15 hI 50 nid Fri EAug - Kia -> gavi Bay;161tr17mht 50 nin Sunz) Aug - Havi Bay-> Imautu Bay;083G1005 hr t hr 35 aitr Inaulu Bay-> HulaghiBay; r05t1130 hr 35 nin Mon 21Aug - HulagbiBay -> Kia; 063fi960 hr 2 hr 55 mia Kia -> Andti Vaghcnaklan4 Choiscul 11G1610hr 5hr 10nin WESTERNPROVINCE CHOISET]L Moo 2l AW - Arariki -> First Unaamcdcovc north of A.ariB 1640-1655h. 15 Eid Tuc 22AW - UrraEcd cov€-> KealE06.{} m5 ht 3tu 5din K.ala -> Ruraval 1(Bt1040hr 5 Di! Rurarai-> Oala Harbouq 1630-1650hr 20 mio Thu 24Aug - Oala Halboor .> Posarae;OdlO-OR0 hr thr P6arac .> Ndo.oto River;0815-0845 hr 30 ni! 57 VELLI IAVELI.A Fri 25AW - Ndoroto Rircr .> r Iengri;04fl!640 lu 4 hr 40 ditr Liengai. > ParasoBay; (85G1060 hr 40 nin Sar26 AW - ParasoBay -> No.o, Newc.o.gia; lEfll0}z) hr 6h. 25lnin Rf,NI'OVA Sunz, Aug - No.o -> Mbun|lu; (b20{900 hr 2 hr 40 nia Mbu.uLu- > Rcna.dColc, MbusanaBan 1045-1220br t hr 35 nin TETEPARE Mon 2EAug - Rerard Colc . > Taedr.,Waugh Bay; 0655-0810 tr thr 15nir Tarrr4 Y/aughBay -> Mburutu, Redov4 200G2Zmhr 2hr GHXTX) Tuc 29Aug - Mborutu .> cizo; 101G,1t35bt 5hr 25Eitr NE'TVGEORGIA Wcd 30Aug - Gizo-> Noro;640-1t:}5 br 2 hr 55 ni8 No.o -> HoEbupelo; 1145-m hr thr 15dia HoEbuFta -> Nu3aHope; tjtul5zJhr 2h, NusaHoF.> [eDi 163G1930hr Thu 31Aug - ncmi -> Mbarcho;050G0810 br 3 br 10dir Mborcho- > Patutii"a;0925-1010 br 45 nitr Patudva- > MbtuaDa;1015-1210 hr thr 55Ein Mbisuana- > Mb.tuna; 1UG1250br Mbatura -> Peav&Nggatokae lsla.nd; L335't53O br 1b. 55nin Pcava-> Yardha, Russe lslands;1605{055 hr 8 br 50 Ein RUSSELLISIANIN Fri 1 S€p - Yalditra -> l.outr,t,oulr Istatr4 (ts30-085hr Loua -> Kaclcrg&A.lokan Isla!4 085tm0 hr Ibr 5 lriD Kaclcrga-> IaI(e Tatag Momoluonislald ; 105G1105hr 15min MoDoluonIdand .> Yandhr; 2t3r?2L0br FIORIDA ISIANIXI Sal 2 Sep - Yardira -> Mboromole;U&0715 ht 8 hr 45 nia Sun3 Sep - MboroEolc -> Siota;O9{5-{D50 hr 5 nin Sbta - > UtuhaPassagc; 100G1m5 hr 5 ein UtuhePasragc .> Sal€saF;14(x1.1450 br $ nin SalcsaF- > UtuhaPa&ragc; 1530.1620 hr 50 Eir GUADAICINAL Mo! 4 Scp - Utu.haPassagc -> Rerc;(BoG. mbr Tuc 5 Sep - Rcrc .> Manitaralu;063&D15 hr 2br 45dn Fri 8 Sep - Manitaratu -> Mbarandc;f40-0730 br 5 br 30 nir Mbaraade-> Honiare 0815.1030hr 2 hr 15 rdiD Total Sailiry T.rmc 178 ht 40 Eir Total Drsalcc Sailed 2,818tIn 58 AppcDdh Z L&t ot Lo.alld.s lDrticatcd by Nuubcltd Arroflr or thr Maps b trigucr 2{ 1) NENDOISIAND, fata - 26, July,1-5 August 2) Dcdo Statio4 n ar Narggu- E-31July ReefIlgoon TepiaiLagoon lvlblaDolil,.goo! 3) l6rd Howr lsland- 28JuIy Lord How€Islad lagoo! Matimi Lale 4) Luenoam& River - 31Jdt-1AWus LucmoaladaRiver Othcr rcafu rivers t MAXIRA ISL{ND, Kira Kira - 6 Awusr 6) XaonasugbaHalbout - 6 Awust 7) Na MWba Archoragc. &8 August NasuraghcnaPassagc and lagooa 8) MaranIsland (mar 16?OA€, lf.$.gs) - &9 Awust lrgoor behindMarau Idand 9) Malau Island(rcar 1613('E' ffi1s) - 9-10August MuraeraBay Maro'u Bay Unnamcdbay atrd stream behhd MarauIsla.od SoaI...-aed lale or MarauIslard MaaawaiHarbour 10)THREE SfSTERI| ISLINDS, Malaupaidalslar4 Su,uta,ara'aHarbour - 10-11August U[[ao€d ilterior salt Darsh 11)MAIr\ITA ISIiND, MaIa Masite Pa$agc,Apio - 11-12August, 14 August O) MaIa Mrsikc Passagc,Taha River - O-13 August Tabarivrt TaraEalaclcak Huro crect Su'uHofiori dc.L Maarfi Macro Channel Maarili PacnaCha.ntrel Mara MasikoPassagc '3) Su'uFisc Bay,klc I6.€a - 13Awust 14)Waisisi Harbour, Rof,irari vilagc - 14AWUst Hauatcni latc lt Si'uaRivcr - 1,L15Awust Slua Ricr 16)Talafat vilagc (oppositcLaulasi) - 15Awusr 17)Auti - 1t16 Awusr A) SANTAISABEL ISLAND, Thousaad Ship Bay, telcghia - 16'17August BaralElcPassagc Ortcgr Challel Thlmasiu river Toutori rivE t(ol@ibuturiiEr Raiihi.ivcr Katabururiwr Nasi'tc.rect 19)Xia . 18Awusr Z)) Havi Bay- 1&4 August Havi Bay SutuFda crcrl Mala$rcacct 21) GhatiranoboGlsnd - 20Awust cbahinhobo lslard 22) HulaghiBay - 2G21Awust VcaaoBay Hdaghi Bay OgalaBay Utrnamcdbay 3) CHOII;EITLISIAND, VeghcnaIslaud - 21-22Awurt 24) Keaiaklad IGal4 Rorahboko klan4 Ruruiai O& Habour - 22-Z Awusr Oala Haftour Oal€ Rircr Kr$r RiEr Vandcb qad 25) Poearac- 24Awusr 26) NdorceoRitrc. - 24Zt Awurt Ndoaotoaiver 27)SEaI urDaDedlatc ofr ToBggoaChanncl de3r SaDbe PoiDr - 24Auglst 28)VELLA L{VELIA ISL{'ND, Liargi Vilrgc - 5 August ,) PararoBay - 25-26August PaiasoBay Ngotosolicreet Unnrm.d lagoonnear villagc 30) NEIV GEORGIAISLAND, Noro - 27Aug st 31) RENDOVAISLAND, Mbusalr Bay,Huntsuzu Cove (Remrd Cove)- 27-28Awusr Unnamcdsaltwater lagoors Ltgc u[ramcd &asbqatcrlatc Snall ulraned &cshiEterlakc 32) TEIAPABE ISLAND,WaWh B.y, Tavara- 28August WaWhBay Unumcd ftc.shwaterlalc 3) RENDOVAIIILAND, Mbuuku (Ughele)- 2&29August 34) Gf ZO ISI,AND,cizo - D-30 AuSust 3t NgW oEORGIA ISLTND,HoDburela Islard - 30August 5) Nus! HoF . 30Awust t/) \/"lruHarbour, neni - 30-31Awust 38) MbarchoLIan4 MbarehoVilage - 31An$st 39) Patutivavilage - 3f August ,O) I{bisuala vinag. - 31Auglst 41) Mbatura - 31Augnst 42) Nggatolactrlan4 Pca\6. 31Awltlt 43) PUSSELLISLANIN, MbanikaIsla!4 Yaudina- 1-2Septcmbcr aO A.bfan Isla4 IGel€Dga- 1 Septcdbcr 4t MomoluonIdrd - 1 ScpteDber Tatacktc 46) FLORIDAISIANDS, NggelaPile klan4 Sal€sapc- 3 Scptcmbcr 4? NggclaSulc ad NggclaPile IslandqMboromole - 14 S€ptesber Utuhe Paa6aga Kirighi dttr Trabac.hi.ivct 60 ,A) GUAITALCANALISLAND, Re.c . +5 Septcdbcr 1"-"-g"oa rivcr Uforo lagoor 49) MaDitaraku- 5{ ScptcEb€r Darac Bay Passagrbctwees Datrac Bay ard North-WastBay $) Iawi kgooo - &7 SepteDbcr Iaur/i kgpoo 51) Mbarandc.8 ScpteEber 9)tloniar - ?-E Jnly,&14 Septcmb€t 61 ,:" !EB :;t d t *FAt 9i o f!5 t. \J Ee 2 v) o z , 5 L z - ', 1""c,:-:: g -.^ I " F 62 &*o^ _uen O finakula Nendo N ^ SantaCruz lslands (.7 Utupua Q Yanikolo Figurc2 SaaraCruz Islaads (= TcEotu prdirc.), Numbcrcdloeliiics arc tisrcdid App€dix z 'l tl\ ul"*" N V A o.. @ ,^1J €./r Makira' 14 I 4 @ Frgurc3. Matira Islaud(- SatrCrist6bal). Numbdcd localitiesarc listcd i! Apperdix2 \ oaitstano &cAc Oceea N |. @> Malaita Figurc4. Mahita Island Nurnbcrcdlocalitics arc listcdin Appcrdix 2. 'gfu)J ';\ z< 0) (! o G U' z n ,,'3. (d I\e) \a/ \s/ 6 o 6- o h]' o ^\-, o E- +o- z< .9 g z 5!a$ 9o$S?i\$'il\\a ,s 6 c U) Or 67 (50) = zo a z< o Y /6\ \q!/ :tA€rc, |al \|:/ a \, { + z q) J 68 z< o 3 -\,,. 6) O ^2c :\A?,'-^[ s "t td;a ^o) >1t -r' L IL €- ti- .v \ /? tJ (>i :. I ( tr {"' a\s"@ €.t o q) E e il?.," @ Food pre+erence and fish atractability in young Nile Crocodile. r.1orpurgo,B., Gan-Shouel Crocodile farll|, Isra€l Bvaryahu,6., and Robln:on, A. , Department of Ani.nal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, the HebreR University o{ JeruEalem. POE 12 Rehovot 76loi:, Israel. Introducti on Fish is Eonsic,€red to be an inportent element in the diet o+ younq NiIe Crocodiles in nature ( Cott, 1961). On crocodile fa.ns, Nile Crocodile6 are lLsually {ed a meat mixtsre containinq +ish, bEeft and a vita,nins and mineralE supple,n€nt (Hutton, 1947t La(rance & Loveridge, 198E,. A diEtlnct preference exiBt +or live +ood (Pool.ey, 196:), and young Nile CrocodileE eat nore live +ish and +rogs than sliEed ineat. Crocodylus johnEtoni pr€{erred dead }hole {ish to chopped +ish ( ulebb et. aI., 1983) . In the preEent Etudy by using a ca+eteria experimgntal rqgimen, thF pre+erence +or +our dif+erent tyFes o+ +Eec, was deterrnined: 1. Live fisht 2. Dead {isht l. A Ehoped meat nixture; 4. Live chicke. Importance of notion, freshnesE, color, Ei!e, chapr and particular specips o{ {ish r{as testpd as to its attractability +or the NitE Errcodi I e. A flock of 5OO, 13 month old NiIe Crocodiles at the Edn-Shmuel Crocodil.e +armr were usEd for thi5 experim€nt. The {loek was naiFtained in a round 75 n: erindot.1e6s chanber in which the niddle area a67Z) wat cove.ed wlth water. Water te,nperature N/as controled at lil.C. LiSht waE provided on]y durlng feeding times. Food attractability {as examined Ltsing a two choice €afeteria pre+erEnce test ( Robinron et. al., 19BO) where follo{ing each obgervation, the fieldE o+ .aood FreE€ntation were 1AO. rotated. The follo|,|ing +eeds wEre asEayed! Live {ish, dead +ish iboth ornaftental {ish o+ the Ciprinid€), live newly hatEhed broiler Ehicks and chopped neat rith a vitamines anct ninerels supplement. Each {eed was tested when paired to each of the otherE, ?0 Four repetitions o+ each pair rere conducted in randome order. Follo*ing the terminatlon o+ this stage, the same experinentat design y{as used ln order to deterfiine thr rolr o+ freshness, Eize, cotour and shape/species aE deterninants in fish attractabitity. The first three factors were exanined by using cotorect ornanentat Ciprinids of :_A Ein in rength. Ir| the +reshness Etudy {resh drad +ish {grade A), deact {ish Etorrd in OoC +or:4 h before presentation (qradE B) and fisn storec, at -:OoE +or a week and defrosted before prEEentation (qrade C) wer€ used. For the fish'E si:e effect we usect frelh dead tish scattered to "snall., (?-A ',big,' (A-15 cn) and cm) si:e group6 were used. The color effect waE examlned usrng tyro typeE o{ ornamental CiprinidE: Red_orange (colored) and black-gray (dark). The e{+ect o+ the species types was derermrned in a cafeteria test using dark Ciprinids and dar-k Tilapias, Date waE analyzed using the non-parametrical Mann-Whitney Ll_test (Siger, 19J6). In qeneral, live +ish were significantty preffered to all other +eed. Dead fish were the second choi.ce, white Lrve Ehicks yrere to chopped meat (Fig. 1). FreshneEs played a siqnificant role in {ish attractabi lrty and a5 ihe grade declined so did the pre+erence (Figs. :,1!4), The crocodlles prefer.ed (Fig. "small,' to "big', fish S) and colorEd to dark (Fig. 6). Ciprinids Rere significantly pre{Errect to Titapia, hokever preference '/ras not im,nediately demonstrated e,rithin thE fir5t mlnule DLtr +oLloHing severat oinute€ of consunpiion inetead {FiE. 7). Discus5ion The crocodil.eE preferred fish, both tive and dead to chicks o_ lroLrnd meat. Since +ish, but not chicks or ground ,nedt are present rn the crocodrles naturat habitat, it is po€sible that the pre+erence {or fish is the nani{estation o+ an innate attraction {or thi5 +eed (ncFartand, l9A7). |loti on Eeened to be a Eomponent in the +ish attractabitily. sinEe tiver jrrking fi5h Eeened the choice {€ed. 7L The ground oeat ,ras the teast prefe.red. Thj.s iE in accordence with Webb et. eI. ( 1983) obsErvatj.ons of Crocodylus jhonstoni. In an experinent where qrolrnd lneat }|ith vitamins and nineralE supolanent was compared to fich and chicks, no di{ference in gro*th .ate and general appearence of lhe crococt!1.es wa6 noted (l4orpurgo et. at., in preparetion). Thusr the value o+ work invested in the Iaboreo,.rs prepiretion of thE €round meat is questienable. The {reshnesE o{ the dead +ish affected tnnediatly pre{erence anct the crocodilps allways pre+erred the fresher fish. This agrees with previolrs obEErvatlons both in the naturat habitat (Cott, 1961) and in €aFtivity (De-Vos, 194:). As +or the nature o+ cues by which the crocodile detects the {reshnessr {urth€r Etudy iE needed. As Hutton (1987) has deinongtrated I the crocodiles prE+errec, fish of a suit;bt€ 6ize {or i,nmidiate sl.dllowing ovEr the larg€r ones. t4hen presented with dark Ciprinids and Tilapias, pre{€rence {or the Ciprinids was demonstrated {ollowing thF tirst +ive minutes. Since the Tilapias bave hard back +rns and the CiprinidE are coftFlptly snooth it is reaEonable to aEsune that the crocodiles prFfer the lattFr to the former. Hohever, it Eeems that the crocodiles have no method to di+{erentiate between lne ._wo Epecres and they had to +igure out the location of the more agreeabte fiEh, whenever the fieh Lrere preEented, The crocodiles j.n the presEnt experiment Here accustomecl to Til.apias and ornamental EiorinidE which were provided to then on a regular basis. Since, thE ration o+ ornainental CiFrinids useually contained ftany colored speclments dhilE that o+ the Tilapias only dark dneE, it is poEsible that the €.ocodtles lftmEdiate attraction to colored Ciprinid5 over dar1." on€Er {as the nanr+estatt6n a+ the previoqs experience and that the cotor Eerveo a= an aEqL(i..ed cLre for their ability to dif+erpntiate betreeF Ciorinids and Iirapiis, thiE.ue wa5 lacking when both the CiprinidE and the Ttlaptas Re{erenceE: Cott' H.B. Scienti{ic res|tltE o+ an inqLLiry into the ecology and economic status of the Nile crocodile in Uganda and Southern Rhodesia. Trans. Zool .soc. Lond,, ?9: ?11-356, 1961. De-VoE, A. A Manual on CFocodiIe Concervation And Manageoent in India. F.A.O. t Dehra-Du.nrn, India, 198!. Hutton, J.l'1. Erowth and feeding etrology o{ the Nile crocodite at Ngeey, Zimbabwe. J, Anio. Ecot., 963 ?g-Sg, 19g7. Lawrpnce, P. & Loveridge! J.F. Carbon, nitroqen and energy balancEs' o+ young crocodiles fed meat. FhysioI. Zctol., 61r 3F1*f,6f,. 198A. HcFdrland, D. Food selection. In: The Oj<+ord Conpanion t6 Aninel BEhaviollr, Or+ord LJniversity Fre5s, 19g7. PooLey, A.E. The Nile crocodile, noteg on incubation pEriod and groq,th juveniles. rate o+ Laomergeyer, ?! 1-Sg. l?62. Robi n:on B. Fiare, , , I'1.R. & BEauchemp , 6. l.l, ComparaEt ve aspects of sal j_- pl.eferance and intake in birds, Ina Biological and Behavloral AEpFctE o{ Salt Intahe. h:are, M,R. , FragIy, l'1.8. !u Bernard, R.A. (eds). Acadenic pres5, New-York, 198atr pp 69-7A, Sigel S. NonparametriE , StatlstiEE +o. Behavioral Scrences. f,lEgrawHill, New-YorU! 1?56. l4pbb, 6,J.1^t,, Bt_rck.north, ,? R,, tlanolist S.C. CrocodytLrs johnstoni in a controled environment chanbert a raising trial , AuEt. I^ii1dl . Res. 1i): :o1-:o5. 19A2. It Eating cro codiles/minute of observation 60 50 40 20 l0 DT'cu rn CM Dtr'G u' DF LF Gt{ Fi oRre 1. Nuhber of Eati (average ng crocodileE for a minlrtr o+ observation, in a total period o{ 1i) min. ) in a caf+Pria regimEn whEre the {oI I owi ng Jeeds were (DF) .ooparEd: Dead fiEh I Live +ish {LF); Lr ve chicks (LC) and Eround m€at (GM). 71 Eating cro c odiles/min u te observation El c..a. r Nl cnd. c 3158?8 Obsereation period (min) F!oure:. Number of eating croEodj,leE at each minute o+ observation rn a Ea+eteria regrm€n where +ish of grade A and C rere conpared. Eating crocodiles/minute observation t4 12 to 6 1 2 0 45 I ?8 ObE€rvation period (mln) Number of eating crocodites at each 'ni.nute o+ observat!on in a.afeterla regiinen where figh of grade B and c w€re coftPared. 16 Eating crocodiles/minute observation E ctar r Nl cner r, 34667A ObserYation period (min) Ei.scrc-L. Nunber o+ eating crocodi les at each minute o{ otsservstion in a ca{eteria regimen wher€ fish o{ grade B and A were comPared. Eating crocodiles/minute observation 316a7a Obsernation period (r!iD) Fioure 5. Nuinber o{ eating crocodilEs at each ninqte o{ observati.on rn a cafeteri a reginen wherE big and snall fi sh were compared. 1A Eating crocodiles/minute observation I 2 34567A Observation period (min) Fioure 6. Nunber o+ eating crocodiles at each minute of obEervation in a ca+eteria regihen rhere colored and dark Cierinids were conoared, 11, Eating crocodiles/minute observation 46 6 ?6 Obs€rvEtion period (mln) Fioure 7. Nuftber o+ eating crocodi les at rach ni nlrte of in a Ealeleria re9inen where dark Ciprinidg and Ti lapiaE Her€ &, ?RANSPORTATION AND ARTIUCIAL INCI'BATION OF A}'ERICAN ALL]GAIOR ECCS Rlchard D. Moses and Robelt H. Chabreck School of Foresrry, wildtife, and Fisheries Louisiana StaEe University Agricultural Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 USA Absttact. - -Ona hundred twenly-eight Arerican alLigato! (Alligatot rrississippiersis) eggs l'ere collecred and iicubaced co Cest the effecls of four incubatlon naterials and rransDortatlon oeChods on hatching success. The four nes! nalerlals cesced were oarshhay cordglass (Sparrjna parers), maidencane (panicum henito')on), grass hay (paspajun notacon), end sphagnum peat (sphaglun sp. ). No diffelence in harching iouna amoug the nest naterials. Slxty-foir! eggs were rransported cushioded (10 cn foan lubber under rhe cransporrarion concalner) and 64 vere transported nodcushioned (no cushioning under the txansportatioo container); no dlfference in hatchint success was found bec\,,een lransportation nelhods. Thircy-rwo eg8s rrete collecCed to tesr Ene erlec!s ot weE and dry incubation units on egg harchabitity. Hatching success did nor vary bet\reen the incubarion unics. Severty-eighc eggs were collecred on 5 d.ares ar biweekty inrervals duling- the incubation period to resc rine of collection on egg hatchability. Harching success of alligaror eggs did not aiiiar among collecCioa dates. Alligacor farming is increasing in Louisiana as an economic veoture. In 1986, 14 corDnercial fams were operating in che srace (Sheldon and Joanen 1985). By 1988, rhe nunber of co=runercial fatrls had groi,rfl co 64 and further expansion of the industry was expecced (La. Depr. Agri. 1989). A major problem for con:nercial opelalions is obraiaing hatchling alligacors fo! use as growing stock. In the pasr, alligaror farners nainrained breediie alligators in enclosures, collecred eggs from nescs ,richi; rhe encLosures. and arcificially incubared che eggs co produce growing stock. Maincenance of breeding allitators is expensive and laoor incenslve. In 1988, Laador.nels begaa to collect eggs fron nescs of oild alligarors and Co sel1 then to aLligator fainrers (ta. Dept. Agri. 1989). Several studies have been conducted on artificial incubsrlon of alligator eggs (Chabreck L97I, 1978; Fetguson and Joanen 1982; Joanen and UcNease 1975, 1971, L919>. Srudies have dealc wlth collection techniques, incubarioD tenperatures, cenperature dep€ndent sex deterninacloll, and col.lection tiee. 81 Advantages of artificial lncubation lnclude lhe elinination of natural losses and pledation (Pooley 1973, Blake and Lovelidge 1974, Chabreck 1978), aod elininarioo of lreacher related moltality (Joanen and McNease 1977, Chabreck 1978). Addirionally, rearing young alligators in concrolled environments reduces hatching year nortality as conpered to that expell.enced in the \ri1d (Joanen and McNease 1979). Stud:.es do nor aglee on the prope! tine of egg co11ectior.. Pooley (1971) reconnended eatLy egg coltecrion. Conversely, Blake end Loverldge (1974) indicated lhac collection shorrly aftet laying had a detlinental effect on harching success conpared to later egg collection. Chabreck (1978) concluded char che hatchins rate of alligacor eggs could be naxinj.zed by deLaying egg collection uncil the fourth lreek of incubacion. Tlre objecCives of rhis scudy wele to derelline che effects of differeot incubaclon materials on hatching success of alLigator eggs, to test the effects of cushioned and noncushioned llansportation oil hatching success, !o evaluate lhe effects of tiroe of collectioi on hatching success, and to detelnine if different types of incubatols influence hacchlnt success. The authors are glateful ro pelsonnel of the U. S. Fish and I,lildlife Service for assisrance during rhe invescigarion, DESCRIPTTONOF STUDY AREA Allitator eggs for this srudy lrere coLLected on Lacassine NacLonal Wildlife Refuge (I-MflR) in sourhr.resrern Louisiana. The refute contains a 6,478-ha flesh\raler i[poulrd$enr referred ro as Lacassine Poo1. Eggs rere collecced floe the norrhe!:n portion of Lacassine Poo1. SeLective, cornnercial harvesring of alligarors is conducted on the refuge under scricr legulacions. Alligator harvesting was resumed in 1983 after 32 years lrith no halvesr. In thaE inreran, the alligator populacion increased from an escinared 500 to 10.0OO individuaLs (Brown and Yakupzack !983:27). The 30-year (1951-1980) averege annual temperarure fo! rhe area (soutbrirest dlvision of Loutsiana) uas 19.7 C with llonchly nean tempetatures ranging fron 10.2 C (January) ro 27.8 C (JuIy). Mean cemperatule for 1988 was 19.0 C, \rirh a mean 1ow rempelatlrle of 7.1 C in January and a mean high cemperacure of 27-5 C Ln Augusr. l,Ionthly temperalules fot lhe study period were l4ay (22.3 c), June (25.3 c), Jui.y (27.1 c), andAususr (27.4 c) (usDc1988). The 30-yeat (1951-1980) avelage annual preclpication for rhe sCudy area was 145.6 cru, wlch nean oonthly precipltatlon ranging I fron 8.8 cn (ocrober) ro 16.2 cE (July). precipirarion for 1988 l'as 145.8 cD, and Donthly ?reclpiCation for the sCudy D€riod was MaJ (7.3 cn), June (16.4 co), Juty (13.26 cn), and A;gusI (8.5 c.i) (usDc1988). The cwo r0ajor plan! connuni.ties ln Lacassine pool ale lhe emergents and floating- leafed,/sub!0ergenCs . l{aidencade and bulltontue (Satittatia Tancifolia) ale lhe oost abundanc specles i.n_the_ emetgent cotrmunity. Other emergents include spikerush (E-Teochatls spp. ) , warerhyssop @acopa spp. ) , giant c;rgrass (Z-izaniopsls fri7aceae, and pennlvort (HydrccotrJe spp.) ( Carbonneau 1987:7) . ETEODS Nest lfaterlals and TlansDoltatlon Studv Egg Collectlon Alligato! eggs nere collected on July 1, 19gg fron nests on LNIJR, Nesrs nere locaced by aelia1 searches of rhe Lacassine pool and narked by dropping a nark€r at rhe approxinare nest locacion. Nests were rhen locared by ground searches fron an airboar. Fou! nesrs were locared and 32 eggs vere collecred from each nest. Eggs were selected from various posirions in.lhe nesE and clacked eggs wele not selecred. Each egg was narked. ro indicate the upllght position as deposiced in rhe nest (Chabreck 1978). The eggs fron each nest wele randomly separared inti: 2 groups of 16 eggs each. The 2 groups lrere placed uptight tnro sefaraie lletal contalners (1.30 L) containing marelial renoved fr;rn rhe nesc to cushion and stabillze the e8gs. Thus, 15 eggs frod each nesc ttere placed into one of 2 contalners, with approxinacely 10 cm of nesC nateriel placed beBreen each clutch. Tlanspottatlon Eggs nere clansporced fron the Lacassine pool in an airboaE and transpotred 160 kn by a covered 1/2 ton pickup rruck co l-ouisiana Scate Universiry, Bacon Rou.ge, on che s;oe day as collected. one of the conrai.ners nas cransporced on a 10-cn thick foan rubber pad (cushioned) and the orher vas rranspoired rilhouE padding (Doncushioned). Transpoltalion from lhe coilecrlon sire Eo Bacor Rouge took apptoxinately 4 bours. Upon arrival, eggs weie stoled overnlght in a tempelature contlol roon at 32 C. Ttle fo11oolnt day, eggs wele separated inro groups as described later and placed in iacubators. 8g Incub4tloll l{sterlals Four incubatiolr decerlals nele tested; narshhay coldgrass, naldencane, ttass hay, and sphatnum pea!. Ilarshhay cordgrass oas collected flom alligacor nests found in bracktsh narsh on rhe Rockefeller Refuge (ca. 30 kn sourh of lhe scudy area). Maldencane lras collected ftom narural nests a! lhe same time egAs wele collected. The grass hay had been baled at the LSU farn, Baco[ Rouge, Louisiana the previous year and stored in a dry area. The sphagnun peac riras uncur, long-fibered peac purchased fron a codsercial source. Malshhay cordglass arrd maidencane xrere nolst aC the liee they \rere collected. They wele further noistened wilh narn tap lrater fron a aist-t).pe spray boCtle before being used for incubation nediuo. crass hay and sphagnun pear were dry when obtained and rere thoroughly saturated by soaking Ln \dater apploximately t hour before belng used as incubacion nedlun, The sphagnum peat had a high 'rarer holding capacity and excessive rdate! was reooved before !h€ peac nas placed alound rhe eggs. Idcubetlon Contalners Eggs were incubated tn pLastic corrtainets (30 x 30 x 15 cm) each ficted t'ith a wooden lid co help slow evaporarion. l,tarer was pLaced 2 co deep in the conralnels !o provide noisture. A 2.5-cn Chick lrooden board l'as placed in rhe bollom of each container Eo keep the eggs above \rarer. Moistened nest narerial ,as Dlaced Eo a depch of 10 mll under dnd IO nrDover che eggs. The 16 cushj.oned and 16 noncushioned eggs fron each cest ,rere divided into 8 groups of 2 eggs eaeh. The 2 eggs from each group lrere placed in separate plastic mesh bags (10 x L0 x 30 cnr) ihen placed in separate incubation containers. Bass nere labeled to identify nesc and Dethod of cransporracion. ihe 8 concainers ,ere sepalaCed into 4 ttoups of 2 replicarions each and 1 group rras assi.gned to each of rhe 4 nesting nacerials for testing. The reroaining cushiooed and noncushioned eggs were divided and Arouped in the sane manne! and placed in rhe saoe 8 conrainers so rhar each container held 2 eggs fron each of rhe 1+nescs. Incubatlon Eggs wele incubaced in Loe cenperatule iacubatots (preciston roodel 81.8). Ihe incubators !'ere equi.pped l'ich a solid srare hear proportionint circuit ro achieve seTlsirlve Cenperalule conCrol (+ 0.1 C). locubators irere equipped trlrh a circulacl.ng fan ro ploviale even air disrri.buCion lhroughout lhe chanber and to assure tenpelature unifoftity. Mercury Eaxlnu&-mininud lhernomelers i.rere placed in the incubacors to Lndl.cate temperature and Co j.ndicate nechanicaL failure of the inCernal temperature themometer. &r A11 eggs nere lncubated in low Ceepelacure incubators at a constant temperature of 31.5 C and checked t!'ice weekly to ensure thac proper noislure (decernlned by visuat obsefiarion) l'as maintai.ned. Llhen the nest nacelia1 was drying lt uas apparent l,rhen tbe 1id \.as renoved floo lhe incubatlon conlainer. fhe sutface of che lrest Daterial oould be light in colo! and appear- dry and blict1e !o the touch. Nest naterials were danpened as needed lriCh a dist-type spray bottle. Ar the escinated line of hatchint, approxinately che third neek of August, eggs lrere i:lspected at 2-day intervals and young thar had hatched wele Date of Collecrlon Study A study ras conducted to deternine if tine of al_ligetor egg collection influenced hatching success. Ti,ronesrs were locareo, adjacen! to a perlnete! levee of l-acassi!1e pool. Eight eggs were randonly collected fron each nest ac cwo-\,reek lnrervals for 8 weeks. Eggs nele collected on 1, 14, and 29 JuIy afrC,12 arrd 26 August 1988. The eggs vere n€rked, cushioned, tiansporced and incubated as previously descrlbed. The 16 eggs fton each collection perlod Fere incubated in lhe sane container tn sphagnun Incrbarlon Onlt Srudy Eggs were collected on 1 July 1888 and sere marked, transported as previ.ousLy described, and placed in incubacion unlls. Two tLpes of incubarl.on units, a dly unit and a wer uni!, nere tested. The dry untr was a lon tenpelalure incubaror (Preclsion nodel 818), and th6 l,ec unir Iras e hunidirv chamber (Corwilon model E-15)- The dry unit had no free warei in rhe unit and che air \rilhin che chamber l,/as nor hurnid. The wer uni.t circulated flee \ra!er, and rhe air ithin rh€ chamber ras saturated witb moisture so that the huridity 'ras maincained ar 100t. Thilty-lwo eggs rrere placed in the 2 r)?es of incubators. Sixteen eggs fron each of 2 nests wete landonly setecred, and 8 eggs f!o[ each nest lrere placed in each type of incubetion uniE. lncubatlon containers eere sieilar co chose previously described. No cove! \ras placed on conlainers in the wer unir, bur incubacion concainers in Che dry unit \rere eovered wi.!h a lid to naintain a high noiscure level uithtn the co[taj.ner. Eggs were incubared !n sphatnuxo peat at a coosranr renperatule of 31.5 c. 85 RESULTS Incubatlon llat6r{e1s and ttansoortatlon Sttdv N6sts and IncubatLon ltatelials Thilty.firo eggs fron each of 4 nescs were incubated in 4 differenc incubatlon dacerials, and hatching !a!es xrele conpaled. Of che 128 eggs incubaced, 82t hacched. The Nrnber of eggs harched did nor dtffer among oescs (F - 0.5172; 3, 21 df;-p - 0.574) or i.ncubation macerials (F - 2.263i 3, 21 df; p - 0.068) Table 1. Nueber of eggs hatched froD each nesta accordins ro incubarion narerlals. Eggs collected I July 1988 on Laca;sine National Wildlife Refuge, Careron parish, Louislana. Incubation Marerials Nest Spartina Panlcun Paspalur Sphagnum Nes! Nunber patens hemitomon sp. Mean t" 6 8 8 5.5 2 7 8 7 6 7.0 3 6 6 7 5 6.O 6 7 7 7 6.8 llean 6.3 7,3 6.5 "Thi"ty-tro egts were lncsbeced fron each nesc lrith g eggs in each incubation nate!ial. Cushl.oacd vs. Noncushloned fhe 128 eggs used for rhe incubarion darerial studv \re!e also used for the cransporta!ion study. Stxcy-four .gg" transported cushioned and 52 of rhese (81.3t) hetched.""ru Ihe orher 64 eggs lrere transported noncushioned and 53 (82.8t) hatched. Data analysis showed no diffelence in hatchabiLity beclreel1 eggs crarrsported cushioned and noncushioned (F - 0.205; 1, 21 df: p - 0.638). Collectton Date Study Seventy-eighc eggs for che collecrion dace study irere coll.ected at 2-week intervals for 8 \,reeks beginning on I JuIy 86 1988. fhree ferclle eggs did not harch and in 2 of rhese enbryos eele dead before the collecllon date, thus their death could n;c be atttibuted to the clne of collecrion. Wirh only 1 fercile egg not hatching, i! ls obvious tha! collecrlon dates did noc influence the hatchtng rate. Because of the si[ilarlry of hacching success anong collectton dates, dala were not cesred staCistically. Incubarion Udit Study Thirty-cwo eggs l,ere i.lcubared ! t et and dry incubation unils to delernine if the unirs affecCed egg hatching success. Sixteen eggs were incubated in each unir. Fourreen egts hatched. ln che wer unic and 15 eggs halched in rhe dry unir. tecause of the simllari.ty of hacching success between unics, differences ln hatching success nere noc resced stati.scically. DISCUSSION Incubation lla!erlals Nes! matealals used for this sEudy included oarshhay cordgrass and naidencane, r'hich are conmon nes! oaterial; in lhe wi1d, and txass hay ard sphagnun pear rhich ale incubarion natelia1s readily available ro alligaror farrners. Chabreck (1971) lndicated that olganic naterials are besr for artificiat incubation naterial. Hatchlng rates did noc differ anona lhe 4 nests or the 4 incubation narerials used in che study. However, eggs in grass hay and ioaldencane had a 90.61 harching ra!e. Oggs in narltrtray cordg?ass had a 81.3t batching tate, and 68.8t of rhe eggs halched in sphagnrid peat. fhe halching rale tn che sphagnun peii was affected by the high nulbe! (10) of faulry eggs. whether che eggs lrere infertile or lhe enbryos irere ki11ed by excessive moisCure rn sphagnun peat ar the onseC of lhe study couLd not be deCermined. However, eggs incubaced in sphagnun pear ro lesc dlfferences becueen i.ncubatlon unlts had a 90.6t hatchin8 race. Differences in drying tine aDong Earshhay cordgrass, grass hay, and naldencane nere not observed. Ttret! Fater holaline capacicies appeared equal, and Ehe incubaEion meterials re;uired noisrentng abouc Eiiice each Beek. SphagnLn peaE held more Eoi.stule, held it longe!, and required noisceninS only once eaco Care shosld be taken when using s?hatnun because of irs high traCer holding capacity. If an excessive aDount of wate! is Present, the er0bryos Eay not ploperly excha[8e resplrarory gases a7 and lrey dle. WlCh prop€r iretoess, sphagum peac ]'i1l not contain surllus irace! tha! can be squeezed fron che naterial. Felguson (1981) reporred that the sclucture of the alligetor egtshell is not very porous at the lide of laying. Ihe lack of pores increases shell stleogth, prevents damage as the eggs are dropped in the nesc, and helps prevent dehydlacion of rhe eggs. As incubacion progresses, extrinsic acidlc degradatlon of lhe egtshell increases che shell porosity. The increased porosiry a11ows fo! che exchange of respiracoty gases and water vapor from the enlalging alllgatot ernbryo. Fertuson scared that thls nay explain why alll.tato! eggs artlficially lncubated oithou! proper incubation nediu$ failed to hatch or died \rhen abnolnlally coucir eggshell did noc allow the baby alligator co escape from- rhe lgg (Ferausor 1981). Cusltloned vs. Noncushloned Pooley (1971) suggesced thar Ni.le crocodile (Crocodylas njloclcus) eggs be cushioned durinS cransporcacion. He reconneoded chat tlansportatlon containers be placed on a bed of dried grass 30 cm deep. lhe 128 eggs used for the incubaclon dateriels study lrere siei.Iarly handled and placed in transporlation containels that were transported cushloned and noncushioned. The cushioned eggs rrere cransported wtth a 10 cm fosr rubbe! pad unde! lhe cransporration container fron the time they l€ft the nest uncil teaching the laboracory in Baton Rouge. The only padding the noncushioned eggs received was from nest rnaterlal renoved froo the nacural nes! at rhe tine of collection and placed in the concainers. This natural nes! nacetlal was used in cushloned. end noncushioned contalnets and uas placed becneen clutches to protec! the eggs aDd prevenr excessirl drying. one hundred and five of 128 eggs hatched t'irh alnosr equal harching lates in eggs froo each transportalion merhod. Stacistical anelysis indicated lhat cushloDing as provj.ded in chls study ras not effective ln increaslng rhe hatching rale of eggs. Collectlon Dates Prevlous studies indicaced rha! egg collection after the fourch week produced the beEt harchj.ng success (Blake and Loverldge 1974; Joarren and McNease 1975; Chabreck 1978). However, Chabreck (1978) reported Chat adequace harching resulcs could be oblained from early collecrion if ploper collecrlon mechods nere used. Later studies by Ferguson (1981), Joanen and l4cNease (1981), Feltuson and Joaoen (1982) also fouod rhac eggs could be collected early itt the incubatlon perlod with acceptable harehtng tt Eight eggs were collected fron each of 2 nescs durlns 5 collection periods; however. l nest had only 5 eggs che 1;sr colleccion date. ?tree felti1e egts ala not hatih and only 1of these could hsve been affected by lhe rlne of collection. IC was collecced 1 Ju1y. The ocher 2 ferttle eggs rhar dld not hacch ttele colLected 24 August, aDd the age of the dead enblyos revealed that death had occurred in the second or rhlrd week of developnent, which was 5 to 6 \reeks prior to che collection dace (24 August). No difference was found in harchinS success between eally and late etg collection. Ho\,rever, we followed the reconmendations of Chabreck (1978) and nalntained eggs after collectlor in Ehe position as found in rhe llesr. Incubdrlon Itnlts fhilty-two eggs uere collected 1 July 1988 !o tes! rhe effeccs of wet and dry incubation units on egg harching success. The eggs were collected flom 2 nests trith 15 ;ggs renoied from each nest. Egts rrele incubaced la sphagnun peii. fhe wec untt provlded hlgh hunldlry (100t), aDd rhe incub;rion narertal atid nor lequlle Chat water be added du.ing the study period to keep rhe eggs fron drying. The free lraler tn the bottom of the inc;batlon containers in the uet uni.t dld not lequire refiLling. The incubation naterlaL in the dry unir requiled that 'iter be addeo bitreekly even though egg conrainers rere covered to decrease evaporation. Free warer in lhe botton of the incubarion contalners in rhe dry unit had to be refiLled evetv 2 Feeks because of evaporaEion. Fourceen ferrite eggs in itre uec unic hatched and 15 fertile eggs in rhe d.ry uni.t iarched. I:re: nunber of eggs is being . .If " incubared. a wer uniE woulo grearry decrease Che workload because biweekly noisrenins oF lncubation darelial is noc required. Ho\revet, a ;"i; ,;;-;.. ".'. be available !o lrost farners, and if a telperature concrollei dry loon is used, it !s idperative rhat proper noj.scure be maincained in the incubation nedlun. Oprimu.n ooisture level was nor quantified, but e: 1ITEMTURE CITED B1ake, D, K. and J. P. Loveridge. 1974. The role of comnerci.al crocodile fanning in crocodile conservarion. Bio1. Consers. 8126L-212. Brolrn, B. and P. M. Yakupzack. 1983. Annual narrarive reporr - Lscassine Refuge, calenda! year 1983. Submicred co UafitS Regional Office, Atlanra. 62 pp. &t Chabreck, R, H. 1971. Atllgaror llesr narelia1s. pp. 71-72 ir La. W11d1. and Fish. Com. 14th Bienn. Rep., New Olleans, Louisians. Chabreck, R. I{. 1978. Collecclon of Amertcan alligacor eggs for alciflcial incubatlon. Wi1d1. Soc. Bu11. 5(4):253-255. Ferguson, !4. W. J. 1981. ltte value of che American allisaror (AlligaEor oissrssippiensis) as a model for research in crenlofacial development. J. Craniof. cenec. Devl-. BioI. Ltl23-144. Felguson, M. W. J. and T. Joanen. 1982. TerDperature of egg incubation deternines sex in el.iigaao! lliss iss ipp iens is. Nature (London) 295:850-853. Josnen, T. and L. llcNease. 1975, Notes on the reDroduccive bioloty and capEi.ve propatarion of rhe A-meric;n alligaror. Proc. Armu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. of Ca.oeand Fish Conn 29.407 - 4L5 . Joa[en, !. and L. McNease. 1977. Artiftcial incubati.on of alli.gator etgs and posr hacching culcure in controlled environmental chambers. Ptoc. ltorld ttaliculrure Soc. I t483 -49O. Joanen, T. and L. McNease. 1979. Culrure of rhe Anerican alLigacor. Internarional Zoo yearbook 19.6I-56. Louisiana Deparcmenr of AgrlculEure. 1989. Louisiana: The source, La. Dept. Agrl, and For. Bacon Rouge, Louisiana. 9 PP. Pooley, A. C. 1971. Crocodile rearing and resrocking. Crocodiles. IUCN suppl. Pap. No. 32. Morges 1:104-130. Pooley, A. C. 1973. Conservation and nanaeement of crocodiles rn Aflica. J. Souch Africa WiIdI. Managel Assoc. 3(2):101-103. Sheldon, B. and T. Joaoen. 1986. Alligarors: Louisiana,s ne\resE gladou! clop. l,a. Conser. 38(6)t4-7. U. S, Deparcnent of CorDnerce. 1988. CLidacoloEical alara: Louisiana annual su.nnary. NaEl. oceanic a;d Atmos. Adm., Asheville, N.C. Vol. 93. 30 DD. 90 A conparj.gon of 3 survey Dethods for estiriating rel,ative abundance of rare crocodilians Tinothy c. orBrien Dept. of wildLife and RanEe Science 118 Nelrins-Ziegler Ea11 University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32601 INTRODUCTION Night count surveys are used videly to census crocodilj.an popul-ations. Night counts are used for relative abundance estinates and for actual populatlon estinates (l.Iagnussen et aL 1978; uessel 1981; o'Brien 1983; o'Brien and Doerr 1.986). other tnethods of surveying include aerial day and night counts (Graham 1968t Parker and lilatson 1970), aeri.al counts of nests (McNeaseand Joanen 1978) , daytine surface counts and counts of basking anilla1s (Thornpson and Gidden 1972). Each af the above nentioned nethods has its own advantages and di.sadvantages. Problelrs invol.ving costs, logistics, and anatytical interpretation nust be lteighed in deciding the best Dethod to use. Although niqht count surveys bave been successfuL, alternatj.ve techniques are noterrgrthy. Nj.ght counts are burdensone for trildlife personnel. accustored to rdorking with diulnaL species. Daylight counts are !!ore convenient but Eay have problens lrith visibility 91 of aninaLs that nove away froD the nater edge to bask. Daylight aerial counts can cover larqe and inaccessible areas in a shor! tiDe perlod but lay be expensive 1n uore redote parts of the sorld. In vierr of the advantages of each nethod, this study was developed to cornpare surface day and night counts and aeriaL day counts for surveyinq crocodilian populations' I considered the alligator population in North carolina as represantatiwe of a 1ou density crocodiLlan population. North carolina is the northern liuit of the alligator' range, and densities ranged froll 0.15/hl, in the southern part of the state to 0.o75/kn (O'Brien and Doerr 1936) in the northern Part of the range. UETHODS Survey routes lrere established in 2 areas of the North carolina coast (Fig. 1): 10 routes in the southern part of the state and 4 routes in the central Portj'on. The l-4 survey routes consisted of 3 river, 5 lake and 6 estuarj.ne routes ranging- in length fron 5.5 to 16kJr. survey routes rrere established arbitrarily to: 1) uge routes rtith knovn presence of alligators based on prior surveys and 2) to clu0p survey routes for aeriaL counts. Each estuary and river route was surveyed tvice lrith each nethod. Lake routes were surveyed tvice by air but onLy once by gurface day and night eounts because of tine and access constraints. Aeriaf, surveys nere nade in a Piper super cub fron approxinately 90 u altitude and at a sPeed of approxiDately 130 lo/hr. Height and speed tere checked every 2 Dinutes to assure consistency. I counted vlsible alligators and recorded gtart and Btop tines for each survey. Air surveys ltere gonducted betveen 0900 and 12oo on 4 days froD 17 - 23 Aprj-L 19s0. surface day counts and night counts for a gj.ven route nere conducted on a single day and used similar procedures. I used a 3m flat-bottoned johnboat \rith a 9.9 hp outboard notor in all surveys. The boat uas operated at 10-15 kr,/hr dovn the midd]e of a river, or approxinately 100 D fron the shoreline of a lake or estuary. Tota] tine of each survey depended on route length arld averaged 1.3 hours. Day counts began between 0900 and LL00 and night counts began t hour after sunset. A l2-voLt, 200,00o candlepover was used on night gurvays to detect eye reflectj-ons of alligators. Day and night count surveys ltere conducted froD 24 ApriL to 14 May 1930. Data analysis conpared tbe 3 survey netbods using Loglo transforDation of the density of observed all-igators as the dependent variable in an anal-ysis of varianee nodel (snedecor and Cochran 195?). The 10910 t-ansfornation vas used to reduce heterogeneity of variance. The design treate survey nethod and lrater type as closs-classified factors, wilh survey routes nested lrithin vater tlT)es and lrith repeated neasurenents on survey routes. The data set lras analyzed as a whole, partitioned by nater type, and partitoned by survey nethod. In lhe overaLl nodeL, factors itere tested uging the appropriate Dean square, deternined by partitloning the conponents of variance, as the erlor tenD. coDpoDents of variance vere also exauined. ALl data analyses used procedures of the StatisticaL Analysis Systen (sAs 1985). RESUI,TSAND DISCUSSIOX survev ltethod combarisons visibility vas considered excellent under alL conditj'ons except rrhen aerial counts were conducted on riverg travergj-ng vooded areas. Here, canopy c]osure over ttater ocqasionally nade observation difficult or iDpossible. An average of 0.15 (range 0-0.63) aLligators/\olroute/survey sas obgerved on aerial countg, 0.047 (range 0-0.50) all, j.gators/lcn/route/survey on surface day counts, and 0.29 (range O-1.86) alligators/kn/route/survey (Table 1t Fig. 2). Although survey routes were selected to nininize the flequency of 0- observations, 36* of aerial, 52* of surface day, and 3ot of night count surveys resulted in no alligators being observed. Zero- observations tended to be Paired for repeated observations on individuat routes, reducj.ng nean nurober of alligators abserved, lrithin route variability, and the abiLity to detect factor differences using F-Tests. Analysis af variance indicated no significant differences (P>0.05) in observed all.igator densities for the 3 nethods, and no signiflcant differences (P>0.05) in alligator densities for the 3 nater types (Table 2). The conparison of survey nethods by lrater tlrpe (Tab1e 3) shoved no significant differences in al'ligator densities (P>0.05). the conparison of vater types by survey nethods (fab1e 4) also shorred no significant differences in alllgator densities. slEnifj,cant differences (P<0.05) in density vere detected for survey route and for the survey rethod by survey route interaction (Table 2. 5). obserlted alliEator densities atere Eignificantly different betlreen survey routes on rivers, but not on lakes or estuaries. varl,abi}ity betlreen route within !,ater t)Pes accounted for 3?t of the total sul! of squares (Table 2). indicating high spatial, heterogeneity in afligator densities betveen routes lrithin vater t)rpes. The survey nethod by survey route lnteraction accounted for 42t of the total- sun of squares and j.ndicated that rithin certain routes. the survey rnethods yieLded different results. Day surface counts on estuarine routes vere extrelely lov coupared to other nethods. Niqht counts on lake routes nere very high coupared to other Dethods (Table 5). Advantaqes and Disadvantaqes of the 3 Methods There ara several logistical and biological considerations that nay j-nfluence the choice of survey rnethod appropriate for a particuLar situatj.on. crocodilian behavior, season, agency resources, and babitat differences nust be considered when choosinq a nethod. Sulface day counts require the least equipment and are the nost easily schedul-ed. Although highly desilab1e froh a logistical vlewpoint, there are nany o-counts (521 of all surveys) associated rith surface day counts in this study. This suggests that alligators nay be fess visible durj-ng sulface day counts than dqringt aerial or night counts. Several explanations for reduced visibility exist. Alligator activity chanqes seasonally (snith 1975) fron priDaril-y diurnal patterng early in the geason to prinarily nocturnal in late sPrinq and guElner (Hagan :.982). Duri-ng the day, alligators Day readily terninate basking if the sky turns cloudy or when body tenperatures approach optiDat leve1s. Alligators in the I'ater are Dore difficuJ.t to observe fron the qround durinq the day because of surface 95 reflection fro[ the sun and because of the lorl profile usually exiibited, fhese congiderations suqgest that season, tine of day and veather conditions are critical in schedul,ing surface day counts. Aerj.al counts and surface day counts are subject to nany siDiLa! problens. ActLvity patterns and lreather shouLd be congidered vhen scheduling aerial counts. zero-counts durj.ng aerial observations (36t) nere not significnatly different fron O-counts during night counts (301), indicating that visibil.ity is satj.sfactory j.f the alligators are active. Aerial counts have a distinct financial advantage of beinE capable of covering larEe areas in a ginqle f,light and are advantageous when a large sanple is reguj.red in a short tine period. The aerial- count is nost effective in open Farsh and lake habj.tats and least effective in svanps and bottonland hardvoods vhere canopy cJ.osure can block visibil ity. NLght count nethods are preferable because they lrork in all habitats and colncide uith the nocturnal aetivity pattern of crocodj,Lians. Eye refLections are excellent targets at night, visible at long distances and in situations vhere the aninal night otheFrise go undetected. Desidn considerations Because thig study t as conducted j-n areas of very Lo!, aLllEator densities, the resuLts nay not be apP)-icabl.e to couparisons of Dethods for censusinq nore abundant PoPulations. The lov densities and large betlreen-route variance observed in this Etudy uade Lt diff,icult ta detect differences due ta nethods. 96 Although the choice of Dethod gives sj.uilar results in thj,s gtudy. higher densitLes and Dore uniforr0 distributions of crocodilj.ans t0ay result in differences in census nethods. Experiments sueh as thls shou.Ld be replicated to detemine if census Dethods are sensitive to the density and distribution of tarEet populations. A second consj.deration for establishing qensuses of crocodilj.ans is the deteroination of the nuhber of survey routes and the nuuber of replicatj.ons per route. Bay]iss (198?) recomnends that 'rhen conducting surveys to determj.ne relatj.ve abundance, precision of estinates is especially ihportant. Assuning a repetition on a single route costs approximately the sane as conducting an additional survey on a new route, the deciding factors becone the cost of establishi-ng a nev route and the reduction iD warj.ance resuLting fron repeated neasurements versus additional survey routes. An anaLysis of the cotlponents of variance (Tab1e 4) for each survey nethod shoi,rs that the betveen route varj.ance conponent (var ( Route fwater Type] ) ) tends to be nuch hiqher than the \rithin route variance cotlponent (var(Error)) for lov dengity populatj.ons. The ratio of bet\reen route variance to within route variance is 6.5:1 for aerial counts, 3:1 for day eounts, and 5.4:1 fgr night counts. Because there is nuch less vari.ation t ithin than betveen routes for each nethod, little is gained by repeatingr gurveys on the sane route unLess the cost of establihing a new route becones prohibitive. This point is illustrated by deternining the sensitivity of the standard error (sE) to changes in the number of routes and the nuDber of repeated leasurenents on routes (Snedecor and Cochran n L967. pp 531-534) . sE is calcuLated as the squareroot of var (Route llfater type])/r + Var(Error)/nr, \there r=the nulDer of routeg and n=the nunber of replications on a route. sE falLs draDatical-ly (!'iq. 3) in response ta increasing the nutnber of routes surveyed by any of the 3 Dethods. The reduction in SE due to replication, hovever, is relativeLy insignlficant at any of the levels evaluated. For exanple, 10 routes surveyed 4 titles at night (4o surveys) re5ult in a SE of 0.236. but 14 routes surveyed onLy once at night resuLt in a sE of o.212 (Fiq. 3). The cost of developing a new route Dust be very high before it becobes economj.cal to consider repeated surveys on existing routes as a lray to increase preci-sion. An oplinaL allocation of sanpling effort, therefore should attetnpt to daxitoize the nunber of routes surveyed in order to baxinize the precisj.on of the survey. coNclusroNs 1. No signif,icant differences in observed alLigalor densities tere detected betrreen 3 survey nethods lrhen conpared over 3 vater types or nhen conpared by water tltte. 2. No slgnj-ficant differences in observed al-lj'gator densj.ties vele detected betlreen the 3 ltater types lthen cornpared over all survey Eethods or vhen codpared separately by each uethod. 3. significant differences vere detected in routes atithin !'tater type, suggesting a high degree of spatial heteroqeneity j.n alLigator observations. 4. signlficant differences nere found for the survey Bethod by route interaction, l-ndl.cating that !0ethods may perforn differently in dlfferent habitats. 9t 5. NiEht count surveys nay be the best choice of the 3 Eethods if behavior, ease of observation, and non-zero counts are considered. Aerial counts are best for surveyi.ng large areas rapidly and for surveying open habitats. 6. when surveying lolr density crocodilian populalions, the nuDber of routes surveyed should be uaxiEized and the each route should be surveyed only once. LITERATI'RE CITED Bayliss, P. 1987. Survey netbods and donitoring i{ithin crocodile Danagenent progranmes. ln: WiLdlife Uanagenent: CrocodiLes and AlLigators. G,J.W. Webb, S.C. Uanolis, and P.J. Whitehead, eds. Surrey Beatty and Sons Pty Ltd. Chipping Norton, Australia. Gratrad, A. 1968. The Lake Rudolph crocodile (crocodvlus niloticus Laurenti) population. Unpublished l.t.S, thesis, Univ. College, Naj-robi, Kenya. Hagan, J.l,l. 1982. ltovenent habits of the American alligator (Allidator nississitriensis) in North carolina. Unpubli.shed U.s. Ihesis, N.c. state Univ., Rateigh. 203 pp. }lcNease, L. and T. Joanen. 1978. Distribution and relati.ve abundance of, the alliqator in Louisiana coastal Darshes. S. E. Assoc. Ga!0eand Fish Cotnt0.Conf. 32r182-186. t{agnusson, W.8., G.J. Caughley, and G.C. Grigg. L978. A double- survey estinate of popul,ation size fron inconplete counts. J. Wj,ldl,. ltanage. 42tL74-L76. ltessel, H,, c.c. vorlicek, A.c. welfs, and Ii.J. creen. 1981. Surveys of tidal river systens in the Northern Territory of I Australia and their crocodile populations. Monogr. No. 1. Perqanon Pre39: SYdneY. orBrien, T,G. 1983. Alerican alligator (Alliqator nlssissiniensis) surveys in the qoastal counties of North CaroLina. Unpublished M.S. Thesis, N.C. State Univ., Raleigh. ?7 pp. o'Brien, I.G. and P.D. Doerr. 1986. Night count surveys for aJ-ligators j.n eaastal counties of North Carotina' J. Herpetol. 20r444-444. Parker. r.s.c. and R.l'1. watson. 1970. crocodile distribution and status in the Dajor ltaters of vestern and central' Uqanda in 1969. E. Afr. liildl. J. 8:85-103. st0ith, N.E. 1975. thernoregulation of the tuDerican alligator. Physiol. ZooI. 4a.L77-L94. snedecor, G.w. and w.G. cochran. 1967. Statistical l'Iethods. 6th ed. Ioua state University Press, Ares, Iova, 593 pp. Thonpson, R.!. and c.s' Gidden. 1972. Territorj-al' basking counts to estinate alligator populations' ,7. I{ildL. Manage. 36:1081- 1088. 100 table 1. ltean afliEator density, range, and numler of surveys (N) for aerj.al, surfaae day and night counts on rivers, lakes and estuari,es. Survev Uethod N ltean Range Aerial- 0.o - 1. 02 Day o.14 o. 0 - 0.80 Niqht 0.0 - 3. 00 water Tvpe River o. 13 Lake 20 0.30 0.0 - 1.86 Estuary 36 0. 13 0. 0 - 0.87 101 fable 2. Analysis of variance of the logrc transforned alligator densj.ties using aerial. surface day and night coun! surveys in river. J.ake, and estuary habitats. variable F-valuel Water Type 1.804 Route (water Type) L.444 L3 . 422 Survey Uethod r.979 2.57 Survey Hethod x Route (Water T).pe) o.744 0, 108 TotaI F-tests are calculated usj-ng Water qrpe vs. Route(Water Tlrpe), Route (Water Type) vs. 8rror, Survey l.lethod vs. Route(Water Tlt)e), Survey Method x Route(water Tl'pe) vs. Error. P < 0.0001 112 Table 3. AnaLysis of variance of the Logro transforDed alligator densities by \date! tlrpe for aerial, gurface day and night counts. River variabLe u.s. F-vaLuel survey uethod o. o89 Route -^ ^-2 survey }lethod x Route 0.046 0.40 Error Total Lake variable l{.s. F-Value survey Method 2.r52 3.L2 Route o.924 1.34 Survey l,lethod x Route o. 590 6.803 Error 0. 102 Estuarv va!iabIe d. f . F-Value survey Uethod 0.7t2 0. 64 Route 1.138 r.02 survey l{ethod x Route 10 1.121 LO . 622 o. 106 TotaI F-tests are calculated using survey Method vs. Survey Method Route, Roqte vs. survey t{ethod x Route, and Survey l.lethod x Route vs. Error, P < O.OOoL P < 0, 05 1(B TabLe 4. AnaLysis of varj,ance (lncluding estinates of variance) of the logro transforned alligator densitj-es by survey Dethod, for river, lake and estuary habitats- AeriaI variabLe d,f, t{.S. F-valuer Valiance Estinate liater TlDe 2 0.066 0. 05 Route (Water TlPe) LL L.32g L3.922 var (Route (water TlFe) )= 0. 617 L4 0.095 Var(Error)- 0.095 fotal 27 Surface Dav variabfe d.f. u.s. F-value variance Estillate Water T)pe 2 0.664 0.42 Route (viater Type) 11 0.806 5.983 var (Route (water TYPe))= 0.410 Error 9 o.l-35 var(Error)= 0. L35 22 variabl.e cl-r. l{. s. F-value variance Estinate Water r!T)e Route (water Tlltr)e) 0.954 9.61" var (Route(water TYPe)= 0's32 Error 0.099 var(Error) = 0.099 Tatal 1F-tests are calculated using water Type vs. Route (water TYPe) and Route(Water TYPe) vs. Errol. " P < o.oool " P < o.o1 ' p < o. oot 104 Table 5. l{ean density of aLl,iqators (per l.D) by survey nethod for each waEer tYPe. survey ltethod Rj-ver Lake Estuary Aerial. 0.13 o.19 0.13 Day o.14 0.044 Night 0.2t 105 ic >: ;,! .'!n z1-- 106 14 AERIAL 12 I DAY NIGHT 1n tr2R f L!O lL o246810 12 14)15 NUMBEROFALLIGATORS OBSERVED ON ROUTES Figure 2. Frequency of alligator oDservatj.ons on aerial, surface alay and night count surveys. 10 AERIALCOUNT NUMBEROF REPLICATES nln ...... N=2 0.20 0.10 0.00 SURFACEDAY COUNT 0.30 E E E 0.20 o v. o z 0.10 f o.) 0.00 NIGHTCOUNT 0.J0 o.20 0.10 0.00 10 20 30 NUMBEROF ROUTES Fiqure 3. Reductj,on in standald error'due to increasing the nurnber of leplications per survey loute (n) and due to increasing the nudber of survey routes for aeriafr surface day and night count surveys. TEEDING, RIPRODI'CTION AND GROIi'I8 IN CASIIVE Uelanosuchus nioer Luis F. Pacheco A. Universidad Uayor de San Andr6s Casilla 9541, La Pa1 BOLIVTA ABSTRACT A captive population of tttelanosuchus niqer uas studied in northern Bolivia. fhe feeding status of the population lras evaLuated both by quantity and quality of the food. Data on reploductive biolog"y and grolrth were colLected and conpared vith data fron literature about l{elanosuchus niqer and ather species, and analyzed to evatuate the success and perspecti.ves of the prograrn. IIIIRODUCAION Crocodilians include some of the rdost valuable and heavilv lraded species in international- con$erce because of thei; high quality skin, this Ied to lrorldwide species depletion and extensive illegaI trade (caski & HenIey I9d8). AE the peak tine for the denand of these goods i; the 1950s and 1960s, nunerous species becane endangered (Hen1ey 1989), I'lelanosuchus ligeg anongr then. Eunting of llelanosuchus began in Bolivi.a in 1942 (lteden 1983t cit. by King and videz-Roca 1987). It is estihated that an average of 585 skins of Uelanosuchus (cainan) and Caipan crocodilus (lagarto) were extracted each day between 1940 to 1955 fron the Beni plains in Botivia (Claure I9a6) . In 1951 the Suprebe Decree No.05912 established a mr.nlrtum sj-ze of 2.1 n for cairnans hides and prohibited hunting of the specieg fron 31 JuIy to 1 January (Kj-ng and Videz-Roca 1987). Nevertheless. hunting conti-nued. A niniuum of 31691 cainan hi.des Lrere exported between 1978 and 1985 (Claure l-986). Recently (1.990) an ',EcoLogical pauser was declared by the covernnent of BoLivj.a, bannj.ng aI1 wildl-j.fe trade. we hope that this nev governhental guideline wilt be enforced with strong actions and heavl. sanctions against the illegal trade. Knolrledge about tr(elanosuchus is not very good. The bost conpl.ete work about morpholog-y, physj-ology, ethology and ecology of the species has been done in peni (otte 1979). Meden (1953, 1981, 1993) reports on sone aspects of its 109 distribution, ecol-og'y, norphology, growth and parasites. Information about i-ts di.gtribution and conservation i,s reported by Plotkin et aI. {1983). l{erron (1985) provides nore recent infornation about status, qlo\rth and spatial, relationships of the Peni populations. King and Videz-Roca (1947) nake the nost recent revielr of the population status in Bolivia, and there iE a report about the nanager0ent of the gele@SgebfE popuLation at the hacj-enda (El Cainanr, the farn nhere this study took pl.ace (croves 1988). The nain goals of this L'ork uere to get sone infornation about the reproductive bj.ology and grovth for l{elanosuchus !!igCE. The study had to be conducted in captivity because of the Loitt population densities in Bolivia which wogld require too nuch tine and budqet to get sone infornation. The captive nanagenent of crocodilians for conservation and connercial purposes is very iDportant vorldnide at presen!, so the importance of these data for the conservation of llelanosuchus is high and !riI1 be useful for future captive rearing progralls and conservation efforts. sruDY ansA The study area j.s Iocated at the Hacienda rrEl cainanr, which is a colrnercial purpose farn situated in the departnent of La Paz, in northern Bolivia. The clj.mate is sinilar to rnost tropical regions of the ahazonian part of Bolivia, so it is siuilar to the ge.te4ggggbgE natural habitats clirate. The farn had, at the time of the study (Novernber 1988 to september 19a9), five pens (Table 1), and a total population estinated at 130 adults and subadults and a nuidrer of juvenil-es aDd hatchlings vhich chanqed sharply during the gtudy. These changes l'iJ.l be described in the results. Table 1. Description of the pens. Pen Iot. Area Pond area # cairnans TL range r 1.5 Ha. 0.25-0.75 Ha. 30 ,1.5 - J.5 m rr 0.87 Ha. 0.35-o.50 na. III 0.95 Ha. 0.35-0.45 Ha. rv 200 u L4-30 r0 TIJ < 1n v 0.40 Ila. 0.003-0,40 Ha. 2 3.5 - 4.2 n Notes.- Pond area is described as a range because it depends olt t-he season. ** this nunber changed during lhe tine of study. It rya9 not possible to catch the cainaDs in pens I, II, and III, because of the big size of the ponds, the big size 110 of the caiDans and the l-ack of help. so both the exact nunber of anirnals and the sex ratio are unknovn. The nunber of aninals j.n each of lhese pens lras estinated by spotlight counts during several nj.ghts and the nurnbers given j.n Table L are the naxiltuD nunber of aninal-s ever counted in each pen. Al.so the TIr uas estirnated by estinating the length of the skuLl (St) and/or the distance betlreen ahe anterior corner of the eyes and the tip of the nose (HL), and transforning these data to total Length by the equations: TL = -67.45 + 8,39 SL thrtrl (1) = TL 105.28 + 15.69 HL fnml (2) (Pacheco, not publ-. ) These relations have an r:0,99 and significance to 99,5 ? accordi.ng to the ,rtt. test of Student (Spiege1 1969). The tlro caiDans in pen V are. naLes and were separated because of their large size and their botential- danger for the other caimans (uonroy, pers. coDrItl.). Pen I is the I'breeding pen", although pens II a.nd III have both adult caimans. Pen Ms never cfeaned up, not even changed the rrater. T{ETIIODS The feedj,ng Etatus vas evaluated by the food quantity and qualj.ty Eiven to the cainans at the farm. For ttre juvenites, special attention rdas given to the quantity of food consutned. For this purpose, the food vas rreighed before being offered to the cainans and the renains were veighed the day after, duri.ng three nonths. A witness quantity of food was left to the sane !.eather conditions, but out of the reach of the cainans and other aninal.s, to test the weight loss or gain of the food attributable to lhe lreather, which vas considered in the calculation of the food consurned. It was not necessary to do this for the adults, because they never left any food. The weight (W) of the caimans of pens f, II and III lrere estirdated by the equat_ion (3): loE w = 1.0753 + 0.0029 TIJ (3) (Pacheco, not pu-bl. ) This relation has an r=0,97 and significance based on the ftn student test of 99,5 ? (spiegel 1969). The data to build the equations (1,2, and 3) r{as strengthened vith data fron specinens colLected in Bolivia by Jose !,obao Tello (JTB 233, JQB 234, JAR 235, Jtg 236, JTB 237. a'ld JIB 238), studied at the Florida uuseum of Natulal HiEtory ln cainegviLLe. ll1 The reproductive success qras eval-uated based on available data from past years (Eiven by the caretaker of the farn), and data collected during the reproductive Eeason of 1998- 1989. For the grolr'Ch study, the cainans were narked by clipping one or tuo dorsal tail scales (Bustard and Choudhury 1981), and the following [easures taken: body Iength (BIr) frou the tip of the snout to the anterior end of the cloaca [nn], total length (TL) frod the tip of the snout to the end of the tail [nn], and !,eight (w) [g]. ueasures \rere taken in Novenber L98a, February 1.989, and Septenber 1,989. The 1989 hatchlj-nqs lrere not Darked until they reached 7 Donths of age. This study lras seri.ously affected by the high nortality of the juveniles, but the data are good enough to draw sone preLininary conclusions. REST'LTS a. Feeding status. The estimated bi.omass of adults and subadults (caimans fron pens I, II, and III) vas 6762 K9. The food offered was about 200 Kg per lreek (slaughterhouse renaj-ns, r'ed meat and occasionally fish) at the beginning of the study, and 450- 5o0 Kg per \reek since June L989 (alDost only fish). This neans 2.95* of the body nass per lreek at lhe beginning, and 6.65 - 7.39 t of the body nass l-ater. usually the cainans renaj.ned very excited and visited the feedinq station long after the food had been fini.shed, The cajJ0ans rere seen catching fish (rrhich live in the pond) and trying to capture bj-rds (casmerodius albus, Jacana iacana, and AEtsiEqe anhinqa) which visit the pond frequently. The initial biouass (uay L989) of juveniles was 7443 g (fifty L989 hatchlings, seven juveniles fron 1988 and one of unknorn age). The final biomass (Septenber 1989) vas 6640 g (34 hatched in 1989 and 1 of unknovn age). The average quantity of food consumed lras 7 * of the body Dass per lreek, ranging fron 5.1, to 8,3 t of the body na99 per veek. The food offered consisted alvays in fresh red meat, although sj.nce April-, a light trap vas put in the pen. about L5 cn above the uater leveI, for about 4 hours each night, to attract insects, but thj.s light trap did not lrark properly every night, Besl-des the insects attracted by the light trap, the juvenil.eg, except the oldest (830 nm TL) uere seen catching ingects during the day and eating frogs and toads ( Leptodactyl idae and Bufonidae) !,hich lrere provided by the observer (dead or alive) or catched by thenselves al,ong the shorel-ine of the pond. The farn is located very far fron the urban areas (see Study area), The food for the cainans was provided until 1987 fron the relrains of the slaughterhouse. the cattle vas sacrifi-ced at the ltacienda and transported by plane to the consune centers. Since 1988 the cattle is brouqht alive to the cities, so the food becaue scarce and ver; exDensive. Red meat is provided (vhen available ana in suaLl quantities) by the slaughterhouse of the Hacienda 'rE1 Dorado( (part of which is ,rEl Caidan() at Bs, 2.5/Kg (about 0.8 SUS/Kg). Fish is provided by the people at Bs. 0.75lKg (about o.24 SUS,/kg). Neither the adults nor the juveniles are ever given added vitarins and ninerals. b. Reproductive biology and success. Data froh past years rere provi.ded by the caretaker, Mr. Rolando Monroy, and are described in labLe 2: Table 2. Data on reproductive success frorn years prior to the studl . Year f nests Eggslnest (Averg.) Natality.* 64,7 37 7A,O t-983 ro,2 t-9s5 34 7T,L In 1987 tvo nests uere found and of an unknown nurnber of eggs, only 12 hatched in 1988 (ltonroy, pers. cornm.); seven of those cai&ans still survived in Novenber L988. but died in June 1989. The nest building occurs sone days to near a nonth prior to the egg laying, lthich occurs betrireen rniddle October to early Decenber; The incubation lasts 93 to 95 days and the hatching takes place fron late January to early ltarch (Table 3. ) . Seven nests r,ere found in 19S8, six of them (A to F) in the 'rbreeding pen'r (pen I) and one (nest c) in pen II. The eggs of all but the nest c r,ere collected by the caretaker 4 j.ncubated to nore than 20 days after laying (tabLe 3), and.froo in an artificial nest bqllt up by hinself. E99s nest c vere not touched until the hatching tine, when we had to 113 renove them fron the nest because hatchj-nE could not take pLace, because of the nest naterial eonpactation. The hatchlings sere vocalizing fron ?:OO a.n. to 5:30 p.to, but could not hatch. Just after the eggs uere retnoved frorn the nest, hatching began. For alnost all nests, hatching occurred lrith a felr days or even tvo lreeks betveen the first and the last hatching (eggs froD ttle sane nest): The nests found during the study are described in Table 3. Table 3. Nest characteristics and success. A 19Ox15Ox55 26-Or. 35/4 04-N* B 22O\.22Ox6O 05-N* 23/ 4 10-N 180x180x5O t 0-o* 4t,/2 04-N* L0 D 190x190x5O ? 3e/ 12 04-N* 180x1-70x5O 38/3 04-N* F 180x170x5o oi-o 35//O 08-D 17 0x15Ox47 oa-N 37/L Notes.- Ne=nest; D and d=dianeters at the base Ic!tr]; h=height fron the ground to the top of the nest Ic!l]; L.Da=egg layinq date; Et=totat nurn-ber of eggs; Eb=eggs broken; Collt.=date of egg collection; Ha.=number of hatched eggs; F.H.=date of first hatching; L.H.=date of Last hatching; N= Novehber, D=Decenber, J=january; F-february and M=urarch i *=data provided by the carelaker. The eggs are vhite and the shell is rough. llleasurenents of six eggs are provided: 47 x 86i 49 x88; 50 x 88; 5t- x 89t 52 x 92i 52 x 93. OnLy one egqr was veighed (just before The average hatching success for nests A to F (the eggs incubated in the artificial nest) uas 15.6 t, and 70,3 A for the nest c (fron which the eggs uere not renoved untj-I the hatching tine). lrost of the eggs fron the artificial- nest rrhich did not hatch contained onl-y decodposed naterial, only a few of tlten contained dead enbryos. A1l. the eggs not hatched frot0 the nest c contained conpletely developed dead enbryos, it night be possible that these eggs had been dauaged during the collectj.on. A11 but the nest D received sone kj-nd of protection by the fenaLe, they stood near the nest (5 to 20 n fron it) all the tide for 2 to 4,5 tlonths. Except fenal-es of nests C and c, all the other fenales attacked nan uhen aDproached their nesEs. The tenlrerature in the nests (in the egg chanber) was recorded for sone nests and as uany tines as lras pogsible and/or the feuale a]Lowed. The resuLts are described along 114 with neasurementg in the artificial nest in Table 4l Table 4, Average ternperatures in the egg chamber. Nest Artif.AcFG Avg. tenp. 30,14 2a ,5 24,59 29 ,25 2A,4a Std. dev. L.2A 0,9 3 0,55 o,25 0,53 f of obs. tl. 11 11 The Table 4 sholrs clearly that the tenperature in the artifj.cial nest was higher than those of the nests built up by the fenale cainans. The variations in the egg ehadber teDperature were also greater i.n the artificial nest, as is shown in Fj-g. 1., where the tenperatures of the nest C, the artificial nest, the environhent tenperature and the water tenperalure in the pond at a depth of 5 cn are conpared. Temp. o C - --F Env, T, Pen | (water) --x- Artit. nest ---e--nest C Fig. 1. variations in the tenperatures of the artificial nest, one of the natulal nests, environnental temp. and water temperature in one of the ponds at a depth of 5 c!ll. c. Grosth. The cainans hatched in 1989 vere lleasured and narked (in Noveuber 1988) at the age of 9 nonths and Eeasured aEain at lhe age of 12 nonths, after lrhich they died. Sotle of the r1< hatqhLings of L989 lrere neasured, but not narked just after hatched (age of O nonths), and neasured and rdaried at the 19: I roonths,. Finally. the two juveniles of unl The average, standard deviation, naxinuttr and ninilrun neasurenents for body length (BL), total length (T!) and lrei.ght (W) of the individuaLs of knovn age are given in Table 5. Table 5. lteasurenents by age. Iileasurenent 0 Months 7 Months 9 l,lonthg 12 l,lonths BIJ [u!o] L3L,42 L78,24 L82,11 189, 14 std Dev. 3 ,07 8, 83 7 t74 a ,47 I'laxinun BL 135,00 205,00 193,00 203,00 Uininum Bt 125,OO L50, 00 t-70, 00 179, 00 TL [bn] 243,6l 36'7,27 4O4,7L 4L5,29 std Dev. 8,86 t9 ,92 2!,78 Maxrnum tL 30o, o0 422 tOO 431,00 44'7, OA Ui-ni.num fL 266, OO 325, OO 37Lt 0O 383,00 w tlrl 75 ,6L 1.30,59 2t-0,00 223 t29 std Dev. t-3,15 24,30 43 t75 46,4L Itaxr-nun W. 93, OO 186,00 29OtOO 288,00 llininun W. 57,50 75,0O 1GO,0O 152, 00 Based on the data presented IN Table 5, we can calculata t'he average increment in BL, TL and !,reight for our sanple (Table 6): Table 6. Average increnents in the neasurellents, consi.dered by age. Age Totaf average incrernents I Average/nonth uonthE BL TL weidht I BL TL weight 0 46.4 s4.6 54.9 L2.L - 7.4 ? 4.5 2.2 9 6-4 0 -L2 57 .7 L31.7 L47.1 4.8 The differences between the iltcrenents in TL and BL are attributed to individual diffarences in the BL,/TL relation, and the different sanple size for the different age classes. The data for the tro juveniLes of unknor,.n age are presented l-n Table 7t grosth data are presented only for the specj.rnen nunber 09, because the other one (S/N) died shortly after the first neasurenent. Increnent/nonth (I/no.) ia given in [nn] . Tabl.e 7. l,leasureuents for the juveniles of unknown Nunber BL l/no. TL I/no. w I/no. s/N 1000 09: Initial 367 798 2100 3 Donths 11.0 2139 13.0 10 nonths 4.8 875 The average grorth in TL for the first 12 Donths of age is 1O.9 Dtn/nonth, very sirtrilar to the average groeth of cainan nunber 09 (unkrown age) , at least for the first three nonths after the initial neasurenent. Based on thig apparent regular grolrth, we can assune that this individual (09) had been groving an average of 11 hb/nonth. Then, if -we iake the average TI, of the hatchllngs (283,5 nm) ve could expeet that an average aninaL, vi-th an average growth rate vould reach a lenqth of about 812 nlm i.n four years, so ou! individual nunber 09 miqht have been four years oLd, and the otber one (S/N) niqht have been 3 years otd. DISCUSSTOIf The diet of both the adults and juvenj-Ies seem to be poor in quality, at least at the beginnj.ng of the study, nonodiets (only fish or neat) do not fulfill all nutritional requi.renents, and usual.]y lack A and D vitanins, and ninerals, special-Iy Ca (Whitaker et a1. 1979). The quantity of food offered to the adults at the begj.nning of the study (2-95 Z of the body nass per veek) rras poor. The quantity offered later (6.65 - 7.39 t of the body masE trter week) lras within the tinits suggested by Joanen and UcNease (1987) of 5 t of the body nass per ireek plus vitauins, and 10 * (Groves 1988). ye! this diet lacks vj.tanins and dinerals sugEested. Likeuise we have to be cautious about the esti.lrated bionass of cainans at the farD, because ve do not knov the exact nunber of aninals (see Study area). We have aLso to consider.the unkno\dn allount of food catched by the cainans in the ponds, even if i.t i9 not large. The quantity of food consuned by the juveniles (7 i of tlre body nass per lreek) is very poor conpared vith the amounts guEgested by other authors, 25 * for the first year and 18 * tL1 for lhe second and third year for Allidator llississippiensis (Joanen and l{cNease 1987), 20 * for llelanosuchus 4ige! (Groves 1988), and 24 - 34 t of the body nass per lreek for Caipan Crocodilus (Rodri.guez 1989). But as stated above, the juveniLes uere always fed in excess, this neans that the juveniles alrrays left sone food. Eogever rre have to consider the food catched by these cainans (specially insects and anphibians) rdhich could be a great supply of food for them and also a better source of vitanins and ninerals than the red neat alone. The egg laying period found in this study coincides lrith that given by Eelron et aI., (in press), lrho report eEE laying occulring in October in Peru, and slightly differs fron that given by Uedern (1963) vho says that Uelanosuchus lay eggs frou septenber to Novenber in Bolivia. Nest sizes are sinilar to that found by Herron et al.. (in press) 22O x 190 x 50 cm, but different fron the 150 x 80 cn size reported by Haglann (1902); cj-t. by Ueden (1953). The egg sj-zes given by the sane author (52 x 86 - 56 x 9? tllml) are alnost sihilar to those found in thj.s study. Herron et al. (in press) report a incubation tide of 88 days, 'rhich differs only slightly frolt ours (93 - 96 days). Meden (1961); cit. by Vasquez (19a1) reports a j-ncubatj.on tine of .52 - 93 days; we never found such big range. The reproductive success in years prior to the study lras irregular (Table 2), lrith hatching rates ranging fron 10.2 to 78 i, and the nortallty of those cainans lras near 1O0t (only two aninals older than one year vere found at the beginning of the study). This problen continued lrith the L988 hatchlings, all of lrhich died before 15 nonths of age. It al.so affected the l-989 hatchlings: fron 55 batched fron January through March, only 34 gurvived by Septeuber 1989, observations during the collections of eggs fron the nests, and the higher and nore variable tenperatures in the artj.ficial nest nhere the eggg 'rere incubated, suggest that the irregular hatching rate in years prior to the study and the year of study itself couLd be attributed to iDproper nanageuent of the eggs during both the collection fron the nests and the incubation. One proof for this hypothesis is the fact that nest c (froE lrhich the eggs lrere not removed) had higher hatching success. The grorrth of the UgleEggggbgg (L.1. cbldonth for the first four years) at the fart! is poor conpared !,ith the growth of other species in captivity, CrocodiLus uoreleti reaches a TL of 105 cn in three years, (Hunt 1980), this lleans an average of 2.27 qt! per nonth. Joanen et al. (1987) observed that Allldator uississiooiensis reaches a TL of 933 - 1041 cn in 12 Donthg and 1035 - 1181 cr in 18 nonths, For gEgggdylgE 11E acutuF, Rodriguez and Rodrigmez (1999) reported an average groq.th rate of 2.2 culnonth for the first 1ez days of fif;. Rodliguez -(1989) reported a growth of 2.03 ntvday, about G.1 cm/Donth for cainan crocodylus. There are fe\r data about the groreh of felanosuchus niqeri data of a caj.nan lrhj.ch gres frbn 90 cn E6-llE-6-Tn Iegs ls provided by Dowling & Brazaitis (1966), cit."",r", by [eden (1983); this neans about 2.2 cn/nonth, Data fron another aninal are as follovs: Sept 1977 Uay 1979 TIF55. 9 crtr uay 198 L TIF79. O cu Jan L9I2 Water telrperature was 19 - 24 "C (lfedem 1983); this neans an increroent of about 0.4 cmlnonth. ,Otte (L972) _separates ltelanosuchus niqer in size classes, grvrng a Daxitrulr tota.L length of 49 cn for the L year speci.nens, a range of 50 - ?9 crn (TL) fa.r 2/3 - ,ear specrhens, and 80 109 cn (TL) for 3/4 - 5/5 ,eat specimens. These data support the eslinate of 4 years for the individual nuhber 09, inir.ially of unknownage. - In Peru, wild xelanosuchus ranging in size (b;dy length) frorn 25 cn - 116 cn showed an average gro\,rth rat; in body tength (BL) of 8.6 cnlyear (this neans O,TL cn,honth), uitil f_ange 5.5. to 12.0 cm/year, lrhj-ch is 0.46 to 1.O cn,/honth (Herron, in press). Then, our data of O.49 cn/nonth (BL), ranging fron 0.21 to 0.67 cnlrnonth for year j.ndividual.s, the one and O.4g to 0.53 cnlnonth for the four year individual are near the lower linit gj.ven by Herron,s obserwations. The nortality and lorr grolrth rates night be attributed to the poor food quality and quantity, and to the Lack of hygienic care both of which contribute to iLlness propelsity. Bacteri.al infections, Iike EglEele.Lta can destroy a_captive rearing program by reducing growth races, skrn quality and increasing nortality (crocodiles as a Resource for the Tropics L9g3). ACKNOWLEDGETiTENTS I at! very gratefuL to ltario Baudoin and Eduardo Forno for their encouragement and valuable conmentaries durinq the realization of the gtudy. This lrork irouLd not have been posslbLe lrj.thout finantial support given by the Instituto de Ecologla of the Universidad Uayor de San Andr6s. 119 Thanks again to l'{ario Baudoin and cecil"e B. de uorales, they have revieved a previous draft of lhis vork. and Dade many coEmentaries, specially in lanqmaqe skills, but any nistake nust be attributed onLy to the author. I also thank to John thorbjarnarson and Kent Vliet, they provided ne loading, and prepared a guided scienti,fic tour during riy stay in Gainesville. John Thorbjarnarson also Dade the arrangedents that allolred ne to revienr the Florida State MuseuD specj.mens. IJTERATI'RE CITED Bustard, H.R., and B.c. Choudhury. 1981. Uarki.ng crocodiles for rel-ease back into the wild for subsequent identification, Reprint fron the Indian Forester LO1(el | 477-4a5. Claure, D. 1985. Fauna sifvestre en busca de otro "Arca de No6tr. Irinidad - Bolj.via. 66 p. Ad. Hoc. Panel. L983. crocodiles as a resou!;e for the tropics. Report of an Ad Hoc Panel of the advi.sory conmittee on technology innovation. Board on science and technology for i-nternational developrneit. of f ice of internaaional af f airs. National Resealch Councj.l. NationaL Acaderny Press, washington. 55 p. Gaski., A.L., and G. Heuley. 1988. fhe ups and downs of the crocodilian skin trade. IRAAFIC (U.S.A.) 8(1):L,5-16. Groves, J.D. l-98S. Repoft on Che manaqement of the black cai!0an l{elanosuchus EiSIgE at the hacienda EI cainan. Project operations. Mineografiado. 10 p. Henl.ey, c. 1989. International lrj.ldlife trade. rn: Audubon lrj.Idlife Repore 1988/89. Acadenic Press, Ne!, Iork. 337-374. Herron, J.C. 1985. Population status, spatiat relations, gEolrth and injuries in bl.ack and spectacled cainans in cocha cashu. Unpublished thesis, Erinceton University. 71 p. Herron, J.C. (in press). Grovth rates of black cailoan (uelanoguchus 4!gCg) and spectacled caiDan (94@B crocodi].us), and the recruitment of breeders in hunted cainan populations. Herron, J.C., L.ll. Ennons, and J.E. Cadle. (in press). The natural history of, reproduction of a black cainan (lilelanosuchus niqer) . tm tlunt, R. II. 1980. Propagation of tl{orelet,s crocodile. In. contributions to herpetolog-y Nunber 1. Reproductrve biology and diseases of captive reptiles. 161-165. Joanen, T., and L. McNease. 1997. ALligator farning research in Lor.risiana, U.S.A. In: Witafite ltinagenent: Crocodiles and Alligators (c. Webb, C. Uanolis and p. whitehead, eds.). surrey Beatty & sons, Australia. 329 - 340. ;foanen, T., L. !,lcNease, and l{.W. ferg.t]son. 1987. fhe effects of egg j.ncubation tenperature on post-hatching grorth of anerican alligators. In: wildlife Mantgenentl Crocodiles and Alligators (c. Webb, C. l.{anolis and p. Whitehead, eds.) Surrey Beatty & Sonsr Australia. 533-537 - King, F.w. and D, Videz-Roca. 1982. The cainans of Bolivia. A preliminary report on a CITES and Centro de Desarlol.1o Forestal- sponsored survey of species distribution and status. Report to the CITES qa^ra+r7i.+ Medeh, F. 1963. Osteol.ogia craneal, djstribuci6n geografica y ecoLogia de I{elanosuchus nioer (SPIX) (Crocodylia, Al-ligatoridae) . Rev. de la Acad. Colornbiana de Cien. xII(45): 2sp. Meden, F. 198L. Horse flies (Diptera: Tabadidae) as ectoparasites on caj.nans (crocodylia: Alligatoridae) in eastern colonbia. cespedesia ri G7 / 39). Li3- J-47. l'ledem, F. 1983, Log Crocodylia de Sur Amdrica, Vo1. If. Universidad Nacional de Colonbia, Bogote. 270 p. Otte, K.C. 1972. Inforne finaL del plan de investigacion rrllelanosuchus EijIqE,' en el gran parque Nacional del Manu/Peru. I'tj.Deograf iado. Liha. l-G p. Otte, K.C. 1978. Untersuchungen zur biologie des nohrenkaiEan (Uelano6uchus nioer SPIX 1825) aus den NationaLpark Uanu (peru): Beitrage zu morphologie, physiologie, ethologie und 6kologie. Tesis: Mdnchen und Lina, Peni, 311 p. Plotkin, M.J., F. ltedem, R.A. Uitterneier, and I.D. Constable. 1983, Di.stribution and conservation of lhe black cainan (Iitelanosuchus niqer't, In: Advances in herpelology and evolutionary biolog"y. (A. Rhodin and R. _Uitaya, eds.). lituseun of Comparative Zoo]'oqy, Canbridge.595-705. Rodrj-$rez, U.A. 1989. Tres nodelos de creciniento en Iongitud de neonatog y juvenil-es de Cailan crocodilus lgEqlg (cope, 1968), (Crocodylia: Alliqatoridae) en cautiverio. Trianea (3) :61-65. Roatrr.guez, E. y I{.A. Rodriglez. 1989. Evaluaci6n del creciDiento y levante de neonatos y juveniles de Crocodvlus ggIEgE Cuvi.er, (Crocodylia; Crocodylidae) durante L987-L988 en eI Centro Experirnental de fauna Silvestre de San !'larcos (Sucre). Trianea (3):53-60. spiegel, l.t.R. 198 . Estadlstica. I.tc cra!,,-Hill, Nexico. 375. Vasquez, R. P. 1981. Bases bioecol6gj.cas para eI nanejo de los Alligatoridae en Jenaro llerrera (Requena - Peni). Tesis, Universj.dad Nacional Agraria, ta Uolina . (Lina) . 205 p. Whitaker, R., Z. t{hj-taker, and A. Vauqhan. 1979. The food of captive crocodj-lj-ans. Ind. For. t05(12) rgAS-887. BASIC CROCODILEFARMING RANCHING METHODS IN RXMOT! AREAS TONY POOLEY Crocodlle Consulta'l)t Pooley Wildlife productlons. P. O. Box 295. Scottburgh,4I80. NataI, South Africa. CONTENTS: lNTRODUCTTON 1. LOCATION OF A CROCODILE FARM OR RANCH 1 . 1. WAIER 1.r.(a) volume 1.(b) Storage 1.(c) Quality 1.(d) Clarity 2. EFFLUENT DISPOSAL 2. (a) Liquld Effluent (b) Solid Efftuent (c ) Utlllsarlon ol Efftuent 3. FOOD SUPPLY 4. CLIMAI! 5. REAiING PONDS 5.1. Type of pond 5.2 - Slting of poncls 6. BUTLDING RIQUIREMENTS 6.1. Cenerat Offlce 6.2. Roon for F.eezers 6,3. Food preparatlon Room 6.4. storeroom 6.5. Labour Force 6.6. Offal Dlsposa1 pit 7. RECOMI4ENDEDTYPES OF REAR]NG PENS t.Ii) Single Unt! CemenERearins pen IrlcKte ,o, Sysrem Cemenc RearinA pen r Isol.ateci .(: earln cearing pond,;en rd) Double_unit Cement pond 8. HATCHERY DESIGN 9. LOCATION OF NESTS AND EGGS to. HARVESTING OF EGCS 11. IRANSPORT OF ECGS PRE INCUBATION PROCEDURES ARTIFICIAL NESTS I4. POST HATCHLING CARE t5, POST HATCHLING MORTALITIES STOCKING RATES DIET AND NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOOD PREPARATION FEEDING 24. REARING AND HYGIENE 20. 1. Col lection of Labo.ato.y Specimens Sterl le SanpLes 1,(b) 2\. COMMONAILMENTS, !OSSIBLE CAUS'S AND TREATYENT 2L.la) Recomnended Dislnfec tants and Drugs 22. ACKNOWLTDCEMXNTS 23, LITEMTORE CITED. INTRODUClION Crocodile farming in Africa and in nost other countries started 1n the mid !96O's. As the popula!1ons of wild c.ocod1llans contlnued to decline through over- expLoilaEion ard haoitat oes!rucrion, faffrrng and ranchlng became an acceptable fom of 'rtlllslng a vaLLlable natural resource. Inevitably too, because the leather Lndust.y.equlred rhe most val.uable h1des, narely of crocodylus porosus, c. niloticus and AlLlgglg! rnlsslsslpolensls, the major proportion of the research effort focussed on ecological studles and management prograrnmes designed to safeguard these chree species. and, over the years, lnto all aspects of husbandry and captive propagation. Some lnpaessive technologlca.L advances have been nade in this f,ie1d. aLso inDo.tant managenentrelareo aspects of lne species bio-chemlsrry. physiology and behaviour. There 1s now avallable an iopaesslve vol,une of data contained in nunerous sclentlflc Jou.nals and in three books that have been publlshed 1n .ecent yea.s. There is no doubt that the Crocodile Specialist Group, th.ough the hoLding of nine meetlngs ln several councries over rhe perloo 19-1 ro 1990, has nanaged to generate conslderable .eglonal input and enthuslasn into many avenues of crocodllian research, and the numbe. of delegates attending this, the loth CSGneeting is proof of that. Scraceq!es Cor Ehe I99O's' organiseo oy rre Amer-.ai Alligator Farmers Associ,ation at Tainpa, Florida, in February 1989, was afso a ve.y lrnportant nilestone in crocodilian conseavation. Howev;r, if one analys;s the research findings and reports that have appeanecl in recenr years, rne bulk of these are conce!.ned with and favour capila] intensive, hiSh technology, hlgh production commercial farming and narketing strategies which are p.edo,nlnantl.y First !/ortd Agrlculture- Snal1, capltal poor, 1oe Level technotogy or subsistence farning projects, which are mainly Third vo.ld Agricul!ure, have been largely neglecled. My vi,ews on this \nere re-inforced when Ln a letter dated 19 January 1990, P.of,. Wayne King {.ote that a paper I had p.esented at the 1st lro.klng Meeting of the Crocodlle Speclalist Group, held ln New York, March 1971 hacl beeo identlfled as one that should be lncluded and tiansLated hto Spanisir, for a conpendlum on crocodite farnlng to be made avaitable for the 1OO or so new fains that are Lrnderway h Cent.al and South Amerj.ca. My presentatlon for thls wo.kshop has been vrrltten fo. :i':-3s!1r3nt. f$Ters .Llvlns 1n.emore reslons, perhaps w1lnou! e-rectricl!y, fefrigerarion, incubators and contlol]ed envl.onment rea.:ng units, or the benelit of a nearoy.veterlnary laboralory and/or knowledgable personnel :: !""9. r? advlse on husbandry and management p.obtens. In racr, 1t !s an update of the I9?1 paper rcrocoijlle Rearina and Restocki.nc't. L. LOCATION OF A CROCODTLEFANM OR RANCH. Vhen selectlng a s1te, severa] lactors shoutd be consldered. 1.1. I/'ATER f.1.fa) The volume of warer avartable rhroughouc the year, especrat-y o-;Er clcoushr perlocis. Th. di";;";- ;o';i;; \rater to the ponds, or via l..igatlon ftrrows. wneiner a bo.e-hole, a windfiill or mechanical pump is requlred and the retative efficlency anci costs of in.s".yst"ri. I.I.(b) The stolage cf eare. should be consrdered, l,rovtsron ol ceservo.Lrs oc supply lanks can oe rmportant and ln the event of fallure of punipina equipnent such a reserve suppty nay prowe-viiat-lo the hea_Ith and survlvat ol the stock. A systen of recycllng water nay be practicat {hereby w;ter punped Irom a alver to storage tanks is gravit:/ ied back tn.ough the ponds, drained into a series of inter_ connected weIl vegetaleo ponos. or rhrougn 4n area of narurar swamp back to the source of suppty. 1.1.(c,) lrater gggLLlI shou.Ldoe lnvesrrgareo. sdmpres snourcl be tested for salinrty, acroity, effluenr from industrlal operations, agrlcultural p;srrcides and rert!tisers. on for chemlcals thar may be undesi cable f.om natural mlne.af springs. Rlwer ;ater that ftows rron:rn area densely populated by hunans and livestock may well be contaninated. Samples should Oe sent for bacterial, analysis. t, I . (d) l{a!-.r cIa.i!y is also a factoe co be consioereo especlally rf pumpeddirecrly - from a river carrying a neavy sltt Load srralghr to rhe ponds. Aparr f;om-rhe manaSementprobtens of not belng able to see the pe.hajs :i?:!d:]"r, o. flnd dead anirnats ln rhe water, poo.rs becone nore dlfftcult to clean, and plpelines become clogged wlth sltt anct studae. This'p;;;i;;-ca. be ellrninated by drawlng water fr;rn a wert crose io so that warer punped percolaces !hnougn the sand o. mud and is thus flttered. F11te.ed bed; of gravel, or pumping water into settting tanks ;;y b; requlred. 126 2. EFFLUENT DISPOSAL. 2.(a) Liquid Effluent. In renote sparsely populated areas the dlschaige of Iarge volumes of contamlnated water faom crocodlle ponds back into a r1ve. system may not be a p.obtem. On lhe olher hand 1n sone locatities it could Dose a health problem ro humans. This aspect has b; oe investlgated and discussed with offlciats of lhe departments concerned wlth water affaias. and heaLth before the proJect 1s built. Provlsion oay have to be made to. the building of eff,luent t.eatment dahs. 2. (b) So]id Effluent. Apa.t from wate. from crocodtle ponds, there 1s solicl efflueot frorn food processing. Offal dlsposal plts a.e recommendedfor thls purpose. (see Fig. ). They are an efficlent ano inexpensrve -rethod of dealing with this problem, as opposed, for, instal]ce, to fuel buaning inclnerators. 2. (c) Uti.lisation of Effruent. As prevlously mentioned the provlslon of a series oi shallow effluent dans fo. the disposal of waaer r:ch rn nutrients dlrecr from rhe crocodite Donds has adwantages. Firstty, because Large votunes can be disposed of. by evaporali.on. Secondly, these ponds, when stocked wi!h f1sh, can produce substantiat and regular harvests of fresh. flsh foi. the crocodiles. Thj.rdly, alte. filterlnA through natural wett_ wegetated ponds, thls water can be re_cvcled. 3. |OOD SUPPLY The econonic vlability of the proJect depends !o a Ia.ge extent on the avaitability and regular source of good quallty food. (See section on DIET). This falts lnto thaee categories: Red lYeat i Donkeys, horses, mufes, goats, w11d gane etc. Flsh: Freshwater, maalne and taash flsh. deeD-frozen flsh etc - !99!!Il: Day-old chicks and morta.lities of adutt bi.ds from f,oultry tarms, poultry condemned for human consumptlon etc. The cost of food, must al_so inclucle transport and/or qeep freeze costs pe. Kg lhat is pu.chased _ bone meal, carcass neal or vltanj.n supptements i.f these are to be costs sholrld take into account that 40 - 45 Kc of fooct 1s requlred to grow a harchllng up to culling s!ze. 121 CLII4ATE Crocodile hatchfings do best at 30 - 34.C foa naxlmum grouth and beLow 2OdC growth is nlnlmal. Thus the locatlon of the proJect ls most tnpo.tant and lf available, temperature data for the proposed area should be studied carefully. t'/inter tenrperatures and ihe duration of cold or cooler weather, ihe lncj,dence of frost, and prevailing v/1nd force and chill factor are of partlcular importance. 5. REARINGPONDS Type of pond The type of rearing ponds to be bulli depends on the nature of the soils and the availability of building mateaials. Natural ealth dams are suitable wheae the soll type is of clay o. heavy loan Bith good water .etaining prope.tiesr and these dans are inexpensive to build. In sand areas it may be feasible to use a heavy grade oi plastlc lr.lgation sheeting, or a cemen! Lining to seal ponds, but in sha-Ie or sites rilhere underground rock fo.mations are :ound, .emei: dans wil I be required. 5.2. Siting of ponds The ponds shoul,d be sLred co receive lhe maxrnum alnount of sunshlne, palticularly over the winter months. The dlrectlon of Local prevatling wlnds should be taken Lnto account and the dralnage of the poncls 1s lnportant. If these a.e built on a sloping hllLsl.de dralnage is far easie. than if lhe g.ound is level. The dralnage systenr must be effj.clent as it is not desirable to atlow water fouled in lhe ponds !o stagnate near to the aearing pens. 6. BUILDING REQUIREMENTS In oadea Eo mainlain up Eo 2OO0or moae crocodile hatchlings lt is useful to have lhe f,o1lowing: 6 .1. Gene.af offlce A structure of about 4,5 m x 3 m x 2,1 m for keeping of records, storage of drugs and as a general offlce for the olener of nanager. A toilet and wash basln is built adJacent to the offlce. 6.2. Roon fo. freezers A structuae of 3nx 3n x 2,1 m for houslng x paraffln.or gas operated deep freeze uni.ts of 10 cu.ft. capaclty each are useful for storage of fresh frozen food. LA 6 .3. Food Prepa.atlon Shed A slmllar size structure buitt over a 3 x 3 m snooth- plastered concrete s.Lab wtth the ftoor sloplng to a central, Claaln whlch acts as a food paeparatlon shed. This 1s open on one slde and thls and the door should be f]y-screenecl. The dralnage pipe sunk inro the centre of the floor can be ted to undergaound soak pits, but p.eferably to effluent dans stocked with f1sh, and into which effluent from rhe hatchtlnc Doncts is afso drained. In this shed, sawn off logs, or robust cutting bl.ocks are needed and woodencur!in8 boards for cucEing on and to serve as feedlng trays. Heavy duty butcher.,s steak knives, neat saws and machettes are used to process anlnal caacasses, poultry and f1sh. Hooks suspended faom a roof beam are usefut for hancinc and sklnnrng carcasses. cut up fooct for immectlari eieoinc ls packed onco the feed-ng rrays. Ene renaincter oackea lnto plastlc bags fo. freezing. 6.4. A fourth building fo. the storage of loots, fish netting equipment, curboa.d moto.s. soades etc. is aLso useful. These buildings can be const.ucted of cement btocks and good ventilation via wlndows and ai. b.icks is necessary. Roofing can be corrugat6d asbestoF or iron. reeds or g.ass, or aLternativel,y the entlre conpl,ex can be constructed of bush poLes wrth reed walll and roofed with aeeds or palm leaves. 6-5. Labour force A ]abour force of three v/o.kers is needed for the preparatj.on of food, actual feeding, pond malnlenance, fishlng and gear. maintenance etc, fo. thls numbe. of anlrnals. 6.6. Offal Dlsposal Plt This is a stmple but effectlve way of clisposing of unt anted offal i.e. the intestines, rumen anci stomach contents of Laage a.rllmals, skulls, hoovesr poul!ry feathers, fish heads and lnnards. This unit (Ffg. 1 ) shoutd be sited at ]east 1OOm dtstant from the iood processrng area or neaaest ponds and serves the purpose of deallna with dl.sposal of offal, a.rld eLinlnates fl,1es a.rld the odou. of.ottinc material from, for exanple, an open pir. These u;i!s can be made by r.rsing pLastic o. rubber refuse bhs if the reacry-made flbre glasmodels are not Localfy avaifable. 18 RECOMMENDEDTYPES OF REARING PENS 7.(a) SLng.leunlc cement reartnc Den An hportant.equlrenent Ls that the poots should be at least 60 cn 1n depth, otherwlse the watea becornes too hot l.n surnme., The poot floor should be stopeal towards the draln outl.et pipe, to facitltate cteanine and washlng ai{ay of uneaten food pafrlcles. Ictea.IIy the outlet pj.pe shoutcl be 10 cn 1n dlaneter. with a stopcock outside the enclosure, so tbat the pool c€n be cleaned and efiptled both efflclentty and quj.ckty. It is essenti.al to place a screen 1n the drain oloe to prevenE c.ocodltes escaplng oc from belng sucked;u! of the pool durlng cteanlng. Afte. some tlrne. sragnailt ponds nay becone difflcul,t to ctean because of the rlch groyth of algae on their sj.des. Hard_ brlstle scrubblng brushes are needed to dlsloclge this groleth. Snall amounts of coppe. sutphate 1n the water w111 help controL algae, lf used regularty. The entire pond and apron of the enclosure must be snooth.Ly plastered to facllltate cteaninc. It ts useful to have a v/ater supply polnE clos; Co each pool from lvhlch a hosepipe can be 1ed to pressure_ sp.ay and clean the entire poot and its acron. An r.mportant par! of the deslgn is a partly_subme.ged and gentLy-s]oplng Iedge, some 45 cm in w1dth, a.ound the perimeter of the poot. thj.s p.ovicles a sha.tfow restlng zone for the crocodl,Ies a]rd aI]ows easv access into the water, Thls ledge 1s a-tso rmportan! in that the crocodlles rest there when feedinS, al]cl it also prevents thern scraplna the1. bellies and daftacinc their claws on entering or leavlng Ehe pool. Th; anount of space afound each pool is calculated to affow ample basklng roon foa each aninaf, ancl an area ot shade nust ltkewlse be providecl. It i.s advlsable !o .oof, ove. the entlre pen with w1.e nett1n8, or crlss-crosaed strands of, w1re, agalnst predato.s. The wlre nettlng sldes of the pe;s shoutd not be Larger than 1 cn nesh, othervrlse hatchll.ncs will rnjure themsetves by try1ng !o cltnb rhrougi rhts, Young cfocodlles can cllrnb vertlcal wire nettin; with ease and wi]l escape un.Less Ehe enctosure rs eiiner aoofed or its slde wa.L]s stoped inwards at an ancle of 2Oo. A skirtlng board (planklng, sheet 1.on, tt; or plastlc sheetlnS) placed agalnsr the wlre neiting fl.ush w1!h the floor p.events then from clrrnbing uf) ttre fence to a height, a.rld lhen dropping back o;to the concrete befow. These pools are useful foi sunrner because ttrev can b€ scrubbed ctean and because the volume of waler used 1s sna1]. Normalty they need only be enptied, cteaned and .efl]Ieal every thtrd day ejld there 1s no wastage through 3eepa8e. r3) The main dlsadvantage is that cement 1s a cotci surface in wlnter and caocodll,es ul]l be prone to resDl.atorv a1lments. rf local. winre. nlght lemperatures'of th;" water or of the alr are Ilkely to fait to the 7.2;C. thls type of pond would not b; sullab]e. Care musi u" exercised while cleanlng these pools, to avold a crocodite inJu.i.-ng ttself by fattlng lnto the empty poot. See F!9.2. 7.(b) Trickle system cenent rearlng pen The advantage of thls systen is that durlng hot summe. weather, when crocodiles are feeding at thelr maximuin cate. small unearen food particles, faeces ancl urlne. are nor rrapped in lhe poo]. The conslant drlullon of lne pond,s water ensures a low bacterla ]evel. poot The 1s drained and scrubbecl clean weekty, as is ltre entlre floor of pen 'rne the wnich is smoothli pfastereO. enctosure embodles lhe sa,,nedesign requlrements as seen 1n F1g, 3 . The pool should be ci.cutar or cone shaped, at Least 50 cn deep at the edges and 60 cm fn trri centre. en earthenware bend of 10 cm in di.arneter is sunk ftush into the cent.e of the f1oo. and into this fiis a rubber plug. In this a 5 cn dia.nete. hote is bored. lh.ough wnlch a 66 cm tengrh of po_yrhene pi;e _;--' rtrted vertlcatly inLo the plug so !ha! !r cdn pushed be ln or pulled ou! as required. A wire mesh shieLd is f,ttted ove. the top of this outte! pioe p.event to the escape of smalt crococllles. rvater is i.a constantly into !hls pooI, c!rculates, ana is siorronea out a! the sane rale as Ene lnflow- It 1s he]!'fu1 to attach st.1ng w1.e handtes to the .!rbbe. draln plu8, so that it can easily be pulled ou! when the pool is to be ct,eaned. 7.\c) Isolated earth rea.lnA pono pen These are tdeal, foa use in cl,i,nates (here low winter temperatures are likely ro cause respira!ory !IIness rn lne young anlnals. Earth pools are easv and cneaD to buito 'nalural, and are a n"oi.". *n.."'""o"."|i"i --' can be pIanEed. s|nalI Iive fish introctucect, lnsectsr f.o8s and other creatures att.acted "iii"to dans the w111 be an impo.tanr actctltion to the diea anl- hea.lth of the crocodites. Du.lng cotd weather the crocodiles wltt burrow into the nudbanks and thus survive nights of hea!,y taosts. Because of lhei. bur.owlng capabillties it 1; provlde :ligi:*!. to a srrip of rand, 4 m wide, oeEween the pool's edge and the bounalary fence. fnis 1s pa.ticul.arty important 1f tire poot ri situatea the ai- botton ol a hitt such that ita louer bank is artif1c1ally. burlt up. Where pools are excavaled on a tevel slte thts precautlon - 1s not necessarv. The crocodlles bumow lnto the bank above normir water t]1 1eve1 and may lunnel beyond the fence 1ine. Nornatly thls w1ll not natter since the burrows wllL be wel,I below grouncl Level, but 1f the pool stands on a hill slope the 1owe. fencel.lne shoutd be burled deep enough to lnteacept the burrows. The enclosure fence should be of ! cn dlaneter mesh nettlng for young caocodiLes, bur'1ed !o a depth of I n, to exclude burrowlng predato.s. Because these peds are a oatural habltat, blrds may becooe a nulsance, elther as a threat to the crocodll,es oa as food competllors. The pens lhecefore snou.ld be roofed, for which a broacl-mesh grld made of 14 guage wlre is sultabIe. In areas wheae the so1l is porous or sandy the floor of an earth dan cart be sealed l,1th concrete or ptastlc lr.lgatton sheets. A Layer of earth conceals this a.tificiaL !1oor. Draldage ls eflected by a centra.I pipe and the water siphoned out as In rhe paevlous systenr. The dlsadvantages of earth danrs are that they requl.e a larger volume of water to aflow fo. seepage, ard .equ1.e mo.e maLntenance. Earth dans cannot be a syslem of constanily crrcu-ating wa-er lney eventually becomefouled. partlcularly during hot weatbea when f,eeding rate is at lts maxlrnunr. Ideally, one shou]d have only half of the availabLe number of pools occupled at a t1ne, so that they caJ| be used in aotatlon. In thls system, the anlnaLs calr be moved to fresh pools when necessary, leavlng the 'usedi poofs to be drained and aLLoued to dry out and bake in the sun. After a period of rest lhese will be clean and ready for use aga1n. (See Figures a and 5). When the caocodlles are to be renoved from a.n ea.th daln they wiII prove dlffl.cult !o capture \rlth a hand net slnce most wlll take aefuge in their bufows. A slmpLe capture method ls to nrake tubea faom 1 cnr mesh wire nettlng about 45 crn in length whlch are firmly pushed lnto the buFow entrance and thelr bases Dacked around wj.th nud. The tubes are tilted upwards at a sllght angle ancl helcl 1n place by prop-sticks. The pool ls then dralned cordpletely and when the crocodttes venture out, they can be easlly caught. 7,\d) Doub]e-Un1t CementPond Systen ?hls system (See Flgure 6) was found to be the most efflclent for managementplriposes. A naJo. advantage 1s tnat wlth tlvo ponds, they can be dralned and refll.1ed on alter.nate days, whlch 1s less stressful to the crocoCllles whlctr soon ]earn to move over to ts) the full pond when the other sta.ts emptylng. Secondly, the lnftowlng rater may be colde. tha.r| ihe water 1n rhe ponds, so that by movlng to the fuII poncr, the crocodlles are not subJected !o a sudden chanSe ln tempeaature whlch 1s harnful. Thirdly, the design al1ows for normai dralnage of ponds, but the floor of the pen stoplne towa;ds the lowea sectlon wheae the overflow sklm welf€ are set lnto the concrete, al]ows for better hyglene. The entl.e pen can be ft,ooded so that the indlvidual ponds overflov/ over the perlmete. Iip and gcease, rac and o1I, is skimmedoff the surface of lhe wacer a.rld the entlre pen ffoor hosed do\rn and cleaned. ?h1s imp.oves overalt hyglene and reduces the incidence ol eye lnfections and fungal infectlons. Wlth the gentty sfoped access area, the crocodites can energe easily from the pond, and thls reduces the .lsk of inju.les caused by ,pilin8' when a wocker commencessc.ubblna rhe empty pond tloor. rne anLma.rsa-tso do nor atrempt ro junp or cltro one ove. the other to escape from the pond. a pr3ct]-se that results in lnjLr.ies. Anothe. advantage is that during cold weather or a! n1ght, heavy transparent plasttc sheeting can be overlald on a f.amewo.k or potes ove. one ol the poncls, about 30 cm above the surface. This ralses the- temperature considerabl,y and afso provldes shelter from cold wind and eain Note also that as wilh rhe othe. units, the corners a.e rounded and this reduces the tendency of hatchllngs !o fo.m plles. 8- HAICI{ERY DESIGN The hatchery nust be slted a eood ctlstance f.om the rearlng ponds to avotd rne oanSer of ctisease cFans_ ported by ff1es, attracced Eo discarded egg_snetls ii!-ll !r1". to fooo rn ihe pens. rr must-iave a sunny aspect and be situated away f.om footpaEhs and roads ror the reason Ehat developj.ng embryos are sensrtive ro vloratlonr and undue dlsturbance near nesrs cErn cause prenatuae hatching. The hatchery of L1 n x 10 n i.s suitabLe for accomnodatlng25 clutches of, eggs. (see Fig.7 ) It can be conscructed oy usrng 12 cn diameter poles' spaceclat 2,5 m incervals, burled Eo a deptn of I T' wh!1e prolrudrng above around to a height of I'85 m. calvanlsed wi.e 4 mm dlameter ls nalfed around the franeerork of poles at roughly 30 cn levels between the floor al]d the roof as a frame f,o. chlcken or bl.d mesh (1.5 cn diameter lrlre nettlng). The wlfe netthg ls buried to a depth ol 60 cm around the pe.imeter to exclude burrowing predators, and tled ro the galvanlsed wire. Along the rop of the perimete. fence a 30 cm strip of wlre nerting prevents crocodrles froin cllnbing out and escaping. It may also be necessary to use rl,re criss-cfossed over the hatclrery to exclude avlan predators. The gates, 90 cm wlde anal about t m 1n helght and openlng at a height ol 60 cn, can be lelt open when the hatchery is lnspected wlthout .isk of hatchllngs e scap 1ng. If desired, the passaSeways nay be roofed ,rlth 70% shade cloth, reeds, or paln leaves to provide shade and shelter during rain fo. pe.sonnel checklng and \ralklng ,rlthi.n. Du.lng heavy rains and storms each nest shoutd be covered over wi!h a sheet of plastic, canvas, cubber mar o. sinilar nalerlal e.a. empty fe.tlLlser bag to prevent excesslve nest floodlna and loweaed nest temperatures. The hatchery ca.r be constrlrcieC by using pLaslic sheers, shaoe cIorn, a chrck layer cf c?eds .. trcr.boo. or poles if wlre nettlng is not available, 9. LOCATIONOF NESTSAND ECCS 9.(a) F.on a boat, crocodlles nay be seen plunging off the riverbank or from lake shore at the approach of a boat oa the sound of a motor and the slte 1s then investigated. 9.(b) CIaw marks and scrapes on lhe rlp of che river- bank caused by crocodiles emerging or entering watef usuall.y lndlcate nest sltes during the breeding season. 9.(c) walking along a rlverbank o. lake shore, crocodlles may either be found ]ying up owe. nests, 8ua.d1ng thern from neaaby, seen rralklng or running off, or heard crashing through the undergrowth or splashlng lnto lhe 9.(d) Nest sltes are generally characterlsed by a bare palch of so11 (for hole nesting spec!es1 surrounded by flattened vegetatlon. The surface soil is sonetlmes found to be molst, may have a strong odou., or lnprints tv r claws |nay be seen. Tapping with one s flnSers on the surface and over a suspected nest n y indlcate wheiher there aie 1n fact eggs buried. Tr reveabeaatlon above the nest 1s dlstinguishable aon the more sol1d, densely packecl surroundlng subs However at color al nestl.ng sltes where several femal,es may hav€ laid close logerhen, or have scraped away rne grass c vegetation sonre 2 - 3 m ln length, 1t becones more ifficult to locate the eggs. Here a rnetal, aod, such s 1s used 1n weldlng, some 40 to 50 cm and 4 mm in di.ar ter is used to probe the soil. By Problng, lhen !. ping gentl.y on any obstruction beneath the surl ce one carn quite easily distlnguish whethea 1t 1s a rot or a cluEch of eggs. Employing thls method sav€ 10. HARVESTINC I 35 co collect eggs soon afler berng laio especlal"ly if tt Jou.ney back to the hatchery involves a cons: --.ab1e dlstance over rough roads. With eggs ln an lvanced stage of :ncubatlon ri^e-e :: the danger that 1e delicate iyster oi olooo vess-lj or the yolk sac iIt .upture. Excessive j01ti.ng, bumPldg and nols can also brlna about pienature hatching and th€ e crocodl.les have a poor su.vlval Unfo.tunately 1: is seldom possible to determine when w1]d ]aid eggs i ve been laid. apart from oestroyrrg one faom each ci tch to examlne its contents and this is wastefuf. tac 3ver lhe foi.lowing p.ecautions shoutd be observe 11. TRANSPORTOF EGGS Corrugated cardboard boxes, plastic crates, wooden boxes or polystyrene boxes are a1I sultable for egg co]l,ect1on. The lattea type have the advantage of belng lightweight, !/ate.proof and maintain the eggs at the boxes must contain slaaw, dry grsss, oa even leaves, .ushes or aquatlc vegetation gatheaed near the nest sl,te onto which the eggs are carefully packed a]1d wlth lhick padding bet,ireen each layer and between lndividual egSs to cut down on movement or denrlng if eggs roll a.ound inside the box. The packtnA can be llbera]Iy sprinkled w!ch water unril almosr soggy :o rnaintaln a high humidlty 1n the box du.1n8 transport. Alternatlvely eggs may be packed in sand irom the iest but the ,/ergh: of a i rIL box, :he d-:scanc: :! :ay 'rave to be carried from the nest siies ic a vehlc1e. boar. canoe oa other c.ait is not very practicat. Also lhe vlbration during vehlcular or boat transport, causes the sand to shift leavlng the eggs to rub one against another, a.rtdbaeakages or dented eggs are the resutt. Once packed, eacn conlaine. wlth a separaEe clurch nust be clearly ma.ked! and a note of the dale of collection a]ld clutch size reco.ded, For transpo.t by vehi.cl,e it 1s essential to 1ay at least a 30 cnr thick layer of drled grass or sln11ar padding as a nattress on the back of lhe vehicLe io cushion the bumping and jolting of t!.avel ower rough roads o. terrain. The boxes too should be flrntv wedged ).n positlon. If necessatY with packlng bei!./een them to prevent movement of these. Shade i.s again rhporrant and a vehlcle canopy is useful, or cut, weff-Ieafed branches may se;;e the It ls obvlously berter !o r.ansporc eggs back to rne nalchery as soon as posslble, buc rhis larSely depends on prevai.llng tenperatures. Suj.tabty packed eggs can be lranspo.ted by alr, boat or road foi severai davs. but when the tnterna] air lemoerarLrres of the tran;port boxes fa]l to and betow tbe ?a-3OoC teve1, the.e i; llkely to be a hlgh mo.tallty of eggs. 15 t2. PRE-INCUBATTONPROCEDURES When the eggs have been transported to the hatcherv. and before artj.flcial lncubatlon starts, the folloivinq procedures should be foll,owed: 12.1, A nest .ecord card for each ctutch of eggs collected snoulct be prepared. recordlna seiiar numoer. oace corlected. toca.Llty and ctuEcn srze- 12.2. The eggs from each clutch cotlected shoutct be carefully examlned for the follo1,tng: the number pie.ced, of dented, ftattened, rolten ar cracxea egls, Rotten or addted eggs can generally be derected b_y odou., a glazed o. dlscotourecl, opique, or greytsil, btue-green shetf cotou.ation, or beCatrse fll-se" eggi wetgh less than nea.lthy eggs, or because rhe con;;nrs or cnese suspect eggs wnen gently shaken, arA obviousLy fult of tiquid, 1n comparlson to healthy egas. HeaLthy eggs develop an opaque \,rhite spot ;n the upper surface withln aa hou.! of being l;i; ii-' they aie fertlte. Eggs, or some of the eigs exanlrned rn each clutch tha! do not show this spot-;ay be considered to be inferti_Ie. Thls whtt; spo! extends Iacenally. al]d forns a conplere OanOtV aotuc a aays, ano cnrs bdnd expands Llnrr- i- :s f e".. -i 9 - 10 days. "1._1 I2-3. Record de;aits of the number of da,naged or suspect eggs on tne nest record card. Atl cracked, pierc;d or rolten eggs shoutd be removed f.om lhe clutch to incubated be because lhese will go .otten in the nest an; apa.t f.om attracting anrs anct various insects, ca! contamlnate and spoil heatthy eggs, particurariy if they leak f1u1d onto ourers 6er6i ini,,. v""i"""" growrhs i".""r may devetop and sp.ead. arso s""." *;i;; ;;;.* harnful to heal rhy esss. 13- ARTIEICIAL NESTS !i/irh1n the-hatcheay. artiflcial nesEs are excava!ed 1n lne so1-r in parattel rows, allowlng a foorparh 1,5 rn,wide.between rows, and spaclng ;ests I ; apart. A nest cavlEy of 45 cm tn dlaneter ts adeouate. 1."" for targe cturches and shoulct be d"8 t;-;';;;;; ;;'' about 50 cn. The esgs are then burted posrtion in tn! sane as found and .emovecl f.on the witd ne;;;. Packlng eggs one tayer on top of the other att;;; ana pronotes fo. humidlty. The solI shoul.d be osmp enouqn co squeeze a handful into a form. The ctepEna; ;;i;;''---- tne top layer should be burled betow the ;urfa;e depends. on the solt rype. In heaw roan ." shoutd .n.V be 15 Eo 20 cm deep and tn ftne rlver "i.V. :O " !o 40 cm deep. It ts advlsable 1f possrOre ".i.rO rhen to bu{ ln the same solt type as was f;uid h the wii;. 131 A sultabl.e nest telnperatu.e range is ln the.eglon of 280 to 34oC at an average depth of 30 cn. Thla shoutd be checked at lntervals. In the early norning anci at two-hourly inte.va.ls ih.ough the day ti1l dusk- Froo these temperature .ecordlngs it w1lt be posslble to establlsh whether soil should be renoved, or addecl over the nest site to achleve the deslr.ed nest tempeaature.ange. Each nest slte must be ldentifled by 1ts serlat number arld preferably date of col,Iectiod ancl clutch size as wel.l. Thls 1s essentlal so that the p.ogress of individual. clutches can be monltored e.g. the date on which hatching comnences, as some eggs irom a ctutctr may hatch earller than others, some prematurely, whllst otnels may requlre up to an additionaL 14 days of lncubatlon. ceneralty, once hatching commencesand the hatchlings are seen to be normal, !h; nemarnlnc escs are not left ro rrcubace rore EhaJ|IO oays. Ii the_ hatchllngs a.e premature (1,e. wlth extended abdomens) the remaini.ng eggs may be left up to 14 days, afte. which period they a.e manually opened and;houtd suavive even if stitt premature. Often perfectty developed unhatched crocodiles becone entangted ,rith the unbilj.cat cord wilhin the egg and are unabte to hatch out, of the actuat shetl may be abno.natly thick. l]nless these eggs are opened the young witl pe.ish. In areas of tow summer rainfa_tl or ove. drouAht periods it ts advlsabte to check the moistu.e contena of the so1l of one or two sarnpte nests weekly. If necessary che nests can be sprinkled hrlth wate. unt11 the sol] around tl]e eggs is suitably danp foa it 1s essential to nraintain a hurnidj.Ny levet in excess of 80% and preferabLy hignec. These lnspecrrons snoulct be oone eithec in lhe early morning or tace afcernoon. In facc even if the young are hea.d croaking in a nest durinc the heat of a very hot day, rather teave them ancl r:;en open the nest when it ts cooler. As lncubatlon progresses, che egg sheLts ,nay crack pieces :I.:n"ty:ty and nay peer off. provldins rhe nest so1.l ts sultably daflp lhls !s not harmfut: should !ne.soll becomedry, rhe inne. rubbery skin of rne ece-"' wlll.harden and adverse-ty affec! hatcilns uneo out eggs sho\rld be Enoroughly lrected "".;.;;:Eo soften The incubatlon period and nest tempe.atuaes vary from one specles to another. For the Nile crocooire'_ lrom 84 - 90-days at 2ao to _O 3zroC,on avecage. rhe spectacled-Ca).man - 90 days at 2go to 32oci American Alli8aloc 65 - 70 ctays at 28" to 34oc. Bul :nl pe.1od of lncubatron depends on weather conctltions and nest temperatures, and lncubarron may thus extend foc up to 7 to ta days beyond the normal_ Derlocl. t38 If afte. collectj.ng newly 1a1d eggs lhe normal lncLlbation perlod lor them elapses, \rlthout any slgn of hatchlng, the nest should be vlsited rwj.ce clailv ano rne surface gently patred. Thls actlon often trlggeas a response faom the young who then comnence croaking of yelpinS to lndlcate that they a.e ready. The soil is then sc.aped away and the haichlings pl.aced lnto sui.tabte containers and renoved t.on lhe hatcheiy. The reason for lhis 1s that othef nests of eSgs not quite .eady, may also be stlnulated to c.oal and when dug up are found to be paenature. Eggs that do not immedlatety hatch may be covered over aealn a'rld the paocedure repeaEeo over successlve oay; unEiI either they do hatch naturatty, or need !o be manuatlv opened. Thr,s is the .eason why nest recoro cards. .ecordlng dares, numbers natchect, and rhe number of eggs renainlng ln each cLutch, are essentlal to management. No attempt should be made to break the umbilicat cord of a hatchling stllI atlached to the enpty ega_shelt. This cord will soon dry out, become brittte and snap off of ics oljn accord. After openrng a nesr a_I che egg shel]s, rotten eggs or dead enbryos nus! be renoved from the hatchery as well as soil irnDrecnated wi:h fluids. :o avo:d d-:rac:.nd :nsFcLs. Inltial trlals involving colLection, transpo.t alrd artlflcial incubation of eggs as described, .esulted !n a hatchidg success of 76,62% ar.d wilh experience a hlgher percentage shoutd be feasibte. 14. POST I{ATCHLINC CARE Hatchllngs are nornally kept for at least 24 hou.s befo.e being placed in the reartng pens, and then only lf the umbilicus has cornpletely ctosed and the cord has come avlay c]ean]y. Any that may be premacure (shown by the exlended yolk sac) are retained rnr.il such tlme as the yolk sac has been absorbed and lhe unblIlcus closed. It is advisable to malntain these newly hatched animats in a d.y roon or, if 1n an outdoor enclosure, lhis must be predator proof, and attow for suntighr as wetl as a.rt adequate area of shade. Newty hatched and young crocodiles tenct to for.m pites and death by suffocaiion connonl,y occurs if too many are placed 1n one aaea. Smafl conpartments houslng a naximun of AO to 30 hatchllngs ellminates this hazard, ancl also makes it easier to grade the crocodlles lnto size Sroups. Hatchllngs fron young f,emales may only me,sur; A5 cm, whtlst. Iarger-females Iaylng b18ger eggs can procluce .r4 cm .tong ot r sprinS. The floo. of the post hatchllng area should be kept as clean as posslble and tho.oughfy rasbed w1!h a strong 139 solutlon of Potasslun pernanganate or' chlorlne ancl scrubbed alter renoval of each group of young, as unbili,cal lnfections are a cause of mortallty of newly halched yolrng, As a precautlon the umiiflcal area of each hatchllng can be sprayed wlth Centlan Violet aerosol when they cone in f.odr the hatchery. 15. POST HATCHLINGI,IORTALITIES Mortallty often i.s refated to enbryo devetopnent causecl by too Loll, or too hlgh tenperatures durtng incubation. It appears to .un in cLutches anct heredltary factoas may be responslbl,e. Eggs lncubated at hlgh tenperatures of 35oC and over may ,roduce hatchllngs wlth arched or Iateratty twisled sprnes, spl.a] taltst stump tails and Jaw defo.rnitles. ert ir lhe farner has cottected wlld laid eggs atready in an actvanced stage of devetopnent, fron nests inadeouatelv-progeny covered by so11, he has tittle controt over the faom these e8gs. Likewlse, a high p.oportlon of embryo failures ,iav be attrlbuted !o tov/ nest remDerarures as we as hu;id.:.,. Levels and the impo.tance of incubating w1:hin ihe recoftnended range - particuta.ty safegua.ding againsr sudden fluctuations of temperatures, cannot be over_ empnasised, 16. STOCKINGRATES The.e is usually a tendency on co.rnrerclat farms to over-stock .earing pens. This teads to greater conpetitlon fo. food, an increase in flgitlng and 9:llyilg py lhe srronger, nore aggressive rndivrduars, wnrcn ln turn .esu]Es rn a greater nurber of inJurres and eounds €nd possibfe sources of wound lnfection;. A louer, oa sensible stocklng aate aesul,ts 1n a ftore even-grolrth rate pea crocodlte, but most important is the fact that the overall health of trre croi:oaf:.es of is a hi.gher standard th€n in an ove.crowded pen. Thus dlsease paobfens aae reducect anO ttre symptorns easier to detect, as are inJu.ed aninals in a- s;atfer gr-up. Joanen and McNease (1929) a.Iso comment that careful attentlon nust be glwen to keeping stocking clenslties rever,-1.e. no nore lhan one arrisaro. per u,3:.,._:"1: m' per anlma]. For 91 nilg.ticus optnions differ. B]ake ( 1974) conslcrers that each young of the year shoufd have avartabte a nlnlhum afea of 0ro9 rn?. After a vear. u,la m'. Van der_Riet (1992) prescrlbes a stoi,t inc . denslty of 0,56 nr, per €nlmat. The stocklng densltles as clescrlbecl for types of oens recomnended herein for c. were iouna to ue "llgjlscg l4o An advantage of houslng young stock tn incilwidual pens from 5 !o 8 m apa.t, as opposed to poncts adJacent io one anothea, is that there 1s }ess danSea of an infectlous di,sease spaeading rapldty from one pen !o another, The cteaning of pens, the staess and disturbance when capturinS s1ck, lnjured, or sick aninals for grading puaposes and transfer !o other pens, ls much reduced. But 1n. the plannlng and deslgn tayout of ttle .earing pens the cost factor has of couase got !o be considered. Even so, there shoutd be additlonat pens atloweci for inlensive care of stck, injured or weake!, aninrats. no matter what overall layour !s decicled on. It is essentlal to naintaln a registei of nunbers of animals per pen, includlng mortalitles, and also to keep track of numbers and movements when anlma]s are size graded during the first yea. of grovrth. 17. The dlet, growth and nut.itionat requi.enents of rhe Nile crocodile has been reported on in nunerous pLbLicatlons dnd cne oietary deficrenclFS, ojseases ano errecr on growth .eported on in sone derar.t. The.e.are basically two classes or slze g.oups of ciocodlles for the conmercial tarme. to be cbncerneO about. These are: .a)-Hatchtlngs and up !o the 1,S d slze group ready for'cultlng and b) Adult breedlng stock, or those anina.Is in excess of 2,5 n in rocal length. In the naturat state the f1.st g.oup subslst on aqualic and snore-Iine insects, sptders. snaits, laopotes, tld flsh rrv. Later. takrns crabs. snrrmps prawnsrrrogsii:q: and and flsh as yeI.L as some of tne sml:.ter AduLrs.on the other hanct reqLrire a much .Larger vo_une or tood and tn nature wou-id take a grealer percenrage of flsh, c.abs, .eptlles, bircts ajlo maJnmals_ from small to qui!e large prey. In facr, a consicierabte cnange rn diet. For the commerciat falner who may house uf, to 3OOO_ 5OOO-crocodltes1n caregory (a) j.! ts a]m;st !mpossible Eo oola.rn. or even approxtmate tlre dlet and volume rooo of nonnralLy eaten by chese young anrmals. seve.al us nave of t.ied vaalous kinds of lnsect and ]lght traps, :l:, I1:l-:9T:yh"! unsatlsfac!ocy resurrs. r6e rarsl sca.r_aoreedrng of nealu/orms, crrckets, fresh waler snarls, froSs such as platannas, flsh etc. are a]l scnefies lhat have been thought of from ltme arr to t1me. are tabour lntenslve, and at best !,,outd be a 141 vaLuable dletary addltl.ve to feedl.|1g a few thousand hatchlings - but neve. by $e18ht be sufficient to feed a laage populatlon all year round. Sornecrocodile farmeas are fortunate ln that they llve alongslde lakes, .lwers and pa,ls \irhere flsh can be readlly har.vested or where flsh can be farmed. Others live 1n aaeas clinatically unsultabfe for flsh farmlne :rnd are lnus depenoanr on artifrclal foods. In thls category are lncluded poultry in a variety of forns. Day-oId chicks, brolLers, adult futly feathered or plucked blrds etc. Usualty the nortalltles fron poultry farms - culted hens or deep f,rozen chlckens that have exceeded shet.f l1fe. Secondly, varletles of comnerclatly available salt water flshes can be purchased faon tine !o tine froo the faige. distrlbuto.s, at falrly .easonabte Arices. But, Ilke the poultry industry, the supplles are ]1kely to be seasonal and cannot be relled upon. The third category ls that of red meat, which inctudes horses, donkeys, beef, goats elc, Thls is atso not a Suaranteed supply, usuall.y the most expensive food to buy and deep freeze facllirles for butk consienments may be necessany. Otherwtse Eransporr and Labour ccsts can be very high mereLy to process a srnai! Most of ihe commerclal farmers f,eed a butk diet or- poul!ry - and lnclude a certain amount of oftal such as lungs, oesophaegus, spl.een and donkey meat. A few have access to venlson by-producrs, but thrs is nonnally low A.ade food. Nut!:itional deflciencles result fron these diers. The most frequently encountereci belng calclum cieflcl,encies from feeding a mono diet ot chicken, It ls also doubtful whelher adults extract sufficient catclum from chlckens alone foa egg productlon and calclun in sone forn shoul,d be added. Bone meal oa carcass meal whlch is inexDenslve and commerclally avallab]e 1n 25 kg baes haa oeen founo to be satisfacto.y. Lack of catclun in the cllet may only becone apparent 1n young stock towarcls tlre end of their f,lrst yeaa and is often iraeversibLe. Conrnonsynptoms are permanent posteri,or paraLysis, klnking of the spine, uner'en growth of the Jaws, and f,a:tu.e to recenerate Another' Frobfem frequently encountered is gout. j,s Thls often caused by overfeedlng.rno encounteaed more conmonly during the winter months. It ,nay be caused by fatty fooals - some breeds of pouttry seem to be paltlcularly fatty or frorn o1ly f1sh. It 1s aecomfiended that fat shoulct be cut from red neat poftLons when feeding to crocodiles. LA Coulson and Hernandez (1983) descrlbe the metabolic depression that occurs \rhen temperatlraes falt to below 20oC. The aninrals then cannot synthesize protein efficiently. Gout ensues, normatty seen as pa.alysis of the 1lrnbs, enlarged or distended tlmbs and dlgits, and unless food 1s withheld until the aninat recovers, an accLmulation of ufates can be cteposlred rn the kidneys and lolnts leadlng to organ natfunction, locornotory difflcu]tles, and eventually no.tality. Bloat is very sln11a. and no food should be offe.ed untll tne antmals .egaln a nornal appearance. llt/allachand Hoesste r196a .apo.ted fioatality of a]l1galo.s fron steatllis. In all cases the cause was attributed to low vltafiin E content in the diet compoundedby the presence of a hiah percentage of Iong chain pofyunsatu.ated fatty acids o. rancld tlsh oils in their diet of snelt, a rnaalne fish sDecies. They found evldence rha- .ancio or unsarurat;o farrv acids oxtdrze vltanln E makrng !E unavallable -o tn; anlnaL. Vitanin E has the function of Dreventinc oxldatlon of adipose tissue. Lance er aI (I983) are of rhe oplnr.on Ena! as _n other aninals fed dlets of marine f1sh. .eDroductive farlure almosc !nvariaolv ocru.s ard rhis.s attrlbutable !o a Low vitanin E level. Thev Dostutate Lhar an anj.mal thar p.oouces a clutch of ro -,1o eegs each welghi.ng approxlmatety 60 g in one night, wou.Ld have to nobl-l.ize a considerabte arnount of vitamin E to en€u.e embryonlc survival of the entire ctutch. Seve.e vitamin E deflciency is fair,ty comnon in c.ocodilians held in zoologicat collectlons. Two palrs of Morelets crocodiles C. noretetll hetd at Atlanta zoo lalled to proouce-iTEETE-6ffi utiL taken off a diet ol narine flsh (Hunt t98O). McNease and Joa,.ren (1981) .epo.ted that a varietv of qualiry food in the cl.iet is berter than a nonooi;t. And that fish a.lone oay not be suitabte for a hlch degree of reproductive success tn alligarors. one of the questlons to be answered is {What is the diffe.ence 1n patatlbllity and nut.itlonat value between deep-sea, narine, estuarlne al]d taesh wate. fish species?n In warious trlats conducted, it was found that a deep-sea 'snall-Jac,(s, flsh known comnie.c:attv as was co!a.lLy unacceptable ro ari size and age classes of crocodifes. Even though the anlnals we.e deprlved of any food for. sone days prlor to the triaLs. Yet, other specles of 'sattwate;, or 'narine, and/or estuarlne fish species such as muftet, grunter, pe.ch, kob slinger etc. were very acceptabte. (See Pooley 1982) . A marlne species known 'Hake-no. in the commercial, trade as 6' was readlly eaten and obvlously acceptabte to all si,ze and age classes of crocodlles. 143 ll/hat of freshwater specles? Is there any dlffe.ence 1n nutrltional val,ue betrreen the va.ious indlgenous specles !n our lakes and r1ve. systems? Apparently the.e 1s, for accoidlng to Blake (1974) an analysls of the naln food (vundu) a catflsh (ln Zlmbabwe) Heterobranchus lons1f111s sho*ed 1t to be extrenely Low 1n vltamins, especial.Ly vltamrn A. The fLesh was found to have a hrgh fat conten! which lnh1b1ts the absorption of fat contenr whlch lnhibiEs the absorptlon of fat-soluble vltalnlns, such as A, D, E and K. Thls sugSested that the hlgh lnci.dence of enterltis on Zinbabwean farms was caused by a low nutritiona.l diet and consequent lack of aesistance to eoterltls. In Rei chenbach-K]lnke (1965) contained in Brake (1.974), nention is nade that a lack of vltanin A can inhibit the action of the tear glands from producing the sallne wash which normally lubricates the eyes and nasal passages of some reptlIes. In other words vrhitst a dlet of flsh such as catflsh, t1lap1a, tlger fish, mudflsh and kapenta nay be suitabte for growing out young stock, flsh are not suitable for adult animals. Behler and Joanen (1980) also commented that a change ln dlet from marine fish to an equal dlxtu.e of fish and a sma]l na.sh aninal, Nutrla, pius a multivitanln mlneral additive dramatlcally increased featlllEy rates of Chtnese alI.LgaEors unoer study. Several workers have conrmentedon the inportance of, nlaintal,rllng young stock at high temperatures e.g. 1n ihe 30 to 32oC .ange. In controlled rea.lng units or open ponds where anlnals ale lying on a col,d substrate such as cement, rheie temperatures may fa11 to as low as 2OoC ove.nlght! problens are bound to occur. Food lntake is Sreatly reduced. The actlon of certaln dlgestiwe enzymes and body metabolism is impa1.ed. Digestive disorders generalLy lead lo a loss ln condition and quite frequently to a susceptlbltlty to bacterlal and even .espiratory lnfectlons, partlcula.ly if tempe.atures fluctuate conslderably between nlght and day. Anothe! problem encounteaed 1s that of nutrltionaf toss of lrozen foods th.ouSh lncorrect feedlng methods. In this case red neat was frozen 1n large blocks 1n open containers at nlnus 3O.C. Da11y a bLock of neat was removed, thawed unt1l sufflcient f,or a meal coutd be cut off fo. lhat day's feedlng, tren lhe block retu.ned to the deep f.eeze, and thls was repeated loa several days. The outea layer of meat was freeze buaned. The loss of blood and f,lulds was considerable altd af,ter some six weeks of lhls practlse, seven-month-otd a.rtlmals developed paralysls of the hl.nd 11nbs, a bunching of nuscfes over the lowea splne ajld 1n severe casesr arching of the spine, Death occurred from drornlng. The slck anlnals .esponded .apldty to lnjectlons of vltamln 81 and paralysed anlnals regalned the use of t4 thei. linbs- It is reconnended that a]l f.ozen food be packed 1n strong plastic bags to retain fluids ancl !o avoid faeeze bu.n, that food should not be thaweal qulckly by lmmerslon in hot water - a process that atso leaches out nutrlents and the use of fans to thaw fooci is reco.rmended. Partlally frozen foocl shoutd of cor,rase As Foggin (1981) and others have poinred out p.otonged use of a monodlet is tikely to lead to deficiencles: lly personal reconmendation is to leed a diet of SO%red meat includlng live.s and hearts if avaltabte. 25% poultry and 2594frsb,. r^'hol.eday old chlckens a.e recomnended for young slock and easity manageable pieces of bone lor adults, Ca.e shoutd be exerclseci wlth ribs and these should be chopped into sna]t sections as thev swallow)ng problens. ,alligator tried tbe premix' reconmended by McNease and Joanen (1981) the foltowing is the fornuta. Added to the food at the fate ot 1%: Specifications Per 1 ]b. 1,800.000.00usP u 200,000.oo Ic u Vi tanrin E 5.OCO.OC:-.i Riboflavin 1.C00,00 uc d-Pantothetlc Acid 2.760.O0 c Niac Ln 4. 50 cl.l Choline Chlo.ide 86.43 GM vitanin Bt 2 1.35 MC 90.00 llc Blotin 20.oo MG Pyrldoxene Hydrochloride 1, OOO.OO Mc Menadione Sodium tsisulflte 4.283.00 l'lc Thi.alnine mononit.ate L.COO.O0 MG Inositol 5 . OOO.00 llc Pa.a-Amlno Benzoic Acid 5.OOO.OO MG 45.000.o0 MG Ethoxyquin 5,00 cM Any crococtite farmer w1]t know that his aninals .esDond to l1ve prey such as f.esh fish, wlth tremendous entbusiasm. Hatchllngs 1n partlcutai can be induced to commence feedlng more easLIy by feed.ing Ij.ve prey tnan oy p]aclng cut up oc minceo fooo ac Ehe watecs edge. I) /r'y mind the lrinclng of food. whrls! less laboLr. iirensrve lnan chopping tt up inlo small pieces. of conrec! partrcre slze, !s not sallsfaccory. There is a consrderable loss of fluids, the animals tenct to tra,nDle it and then cannot pick 1t up. It also c.eates a g.eate. deal of fouling, c.eates nrore work ln maintalntnc p--n ';;;---' hygiene and consequently can tead to bac te ri;i cllsease Drobfeos - There 1s an argument as to the merlrs of feectj.nc plucked, Doutlrv or whole and compreiery feathered. C;;.;i;--'' compaction cern occua fron accumulatlon of featheas 145 whlch belng light do not afwaya pass easily through the systen, buc thts has not yet caused problems !n my feed sna1l anltnals l.1ke .abblta and gulnea pl.As has surp.islngly not been lried on any scale and thls would be a valuable addltlon to any dlet. Presunably though these animals a.e conmerclally too valuable to feed io c.ocod1les. However when one consldeas the cost today of an adult female crocodile, lhe fact that she only produces one clutch of eggs annua11y, that the eggs may all be inferti,Le, or tha! she doesnlt Lay at al] because of a dlet def!ciency, Ehen the feedlng of rhese animals nay not be as expenslve as 1t seems. Flnally, lt seems lhat of all the pfoblens tha! can occur 1n commerctal rarmlng of crocodiles. our Iack or understanding of what constituies a balanced diet is paobably the avenue requiring the nost research. I! also seems that as ln nature where all slze g.oups of c.ocodillans feed off a wide variety of o.ganisms, captlve aninals roo snould be fed wnenever possrole rn the sanle nanner. 18, FOoDPREPARATIoN In prepar!ng fooo i! rs inporranL -o ceduce -- Lo pieces that can be swallowed withou! difficutty. La.ge f,lsh should be cut lnto elongated .athe. than squa.e pl,eces since the bones can cause damage du.ing swatlowlng. Sinllarly, Live whole fish shoutd not be too 1a.ge les! the dorsal ilns cause drmage to lhe .eptlLe's throat and gullet. Befo.e deep freezlng large flsh shoutd be scaled and gulted, their heads and fins removed and washed before belng deep f.ozen. The heaais and Ilvers a.e excellent food but feeding of intestlnes and othe. lnnards is not recomrnended. All food must be comptetely thawed out before feedinc a]ld surplus, or uneaten food must never be re-f.ozen; since repeated thawlng pennlts bacterla to multiply rapldly so that eventually the crocodlles are being fed bacteria-laden contarninated food. The concrete slab should be hosed down and scaubbed \r1th ha.d b.istle broons after food processlng. A sprhg balance ls useful for welghing food and a record book for recording lhe date, prevaj,llng a1r tenperatufe, flrass fed, pen number, percentage wastage, and remaaks ts moat lnportant. 19, FEEDINC The nost deslrable method 1s to estinate the amount of - food that each 8r.oup lvill consume at each neal. bv 146 establishing a regufaa patte.n, feeding at the same time each day, it becones easler to calculate how much 1s required, particularly when lhe nass fed, and anount wasted per pen 1s weighed and recor,ded. The crocodl.tes Oecomeaccustoned to the routlne and food is then consuned whl1e still fresh. In the hot surnmernonths crocodiles w111 feed dalLy, but feedlng .ate wlL] stacken off torards the onset of the cotder months when temperatu.es start to fluctuate each day. It is then wise to start reducing the feedlna frequency a..rd quadtities fed untll food 1€ .equlred perhaps only eveay second or thlfd day, according to locaL cltmatlc conditlons. Gene.ally young crocodlles !r1It refuse fooct when the air o. water tenperatu.e fatt6 betow 60oF (15,6"C) and it is wlse !o dlscontinue feedj.dg rhen, as cearaln enzy'nes necessary fo. dlgestion are not activated. Even in m1d-sunner sudden cotd spetts may occur and at these llnes it ls not worthwhite offe.inc food. o. t.ylng ro coax tnen inro feectlng unril tie weaiher. wa.ms up again. During hot \,/eather conditions it 1s p.efe.able to feed 1n the late afteanoon o. evenlngs, after the animafs have basked, their body tenperatures are raised, and they wi 1l be hungry. The use of flat planks, or siniiar ieeding boards resutt:s in l.ess wastage of food, cuts down on rhe anount of uneaten lood lhat remalns in the sand, gravet or g.ass verges of the ponds, which soon becones contaninaied, o. elimlnates the p.oblem of spreading food out onto the not cemented perineter of the pond, which is obvioustv an undesirable prac cise. When feedlng, the boa.ds should be spread around the pool pe.imete. (up ro 8 to 10 indlwidual boards) so that lhe crocodlfes do not have to cllmb over one anothe., or coinpete, blte or fight unnecessarily to .each it. Because.of the more rapld evening Eenrperalure drop 1n winler it nay be necessary ro feed aE an earl-er hour or tne alternoon- fn cemented ponds the aaea wheae food is laid out shoutd be cleaned and sc.ubbe 20. REAR]NGAND HYGIENE Young crocodiles are moae dellcate lhan ls generally real.lseal and a thorough knowtedge of thelr Eehavi;;; and requlreoents under captlve aatlflclal condltlons is essentlaf 1f reaalng 1s to be successfut, Ma.|rydlsease symplona are easl]y overfooked 1f the observer ts not ram!,r,1ar with the normal behaviour of caocodrles uncter a varlety of condltlons. It ls essentlal to know how thev r47 normally walk! swin, bask, thermo- re gulate , sleep and feed in relation to the tine ol day, the ai. and water temperatures, and du.1nA cold condltlods, raln and at nlght, and how thelr behavlour may change at dtfferen! seasons of the yea!. The no.e tlrne the owner or ftanager spends observlng the anlna]s, the greatea are his chances of successfully .ea.ing them. He wiLl soon ootice that ffom a clulch of eggs hatched, sone lndividuat s wlll be agSressive, otheas less so. Others may be shy and sohe extredelv timid. There nay be a conslderable diffe.ence in slie range, The grovth of sonre will be .apid, lhe majority at a fairly eveo rate and that a few hardly grow at attt and may be classed as runts. The regular grading of.aninals lnto slze ctasses is lnportant to eliinlnate unnecessary bultying whlch can Lead to slunted g.oeth of the weaker animals. iut 1t must also be bo.ne in mind tha! the young a.e extrenety sensltlve to stress as fron loud noises, sudden dlsturbance, excesslwe movement and activity in r:heir pens, and especially f.om handtlng as ln captu.e fo. measurlnS, gradlnS or movlng to other quarters. An advantage is to train staff ,rho work daiiv with the anina]s and who by experience Learn io recosnlse aor insEance. rne appearanceof no.ra- faeces fior rearrnv anlmafs, as opposed to diarrhoea in sick specimens, Who da1ly prepa.e the food into portions of suiiabte slze, ensu.e that the food is fresh, rhat uneaten food is remowed fron the ponds, and that water 1s chanced regutarly ard rhe ponds scrubbed cIean. rne enpnisLs should be on observing strlct hyglene to the exient of using only one scrubbing baush oa broon and the same feedlng boards per pen. AIso using footbaths containing a strong dlsinfectant at the door to each oen to elimrnare rhe possrbiliry of c.oss transfer of bac-erla. Even wlth the strlctest of hyglene procedures, young crocodlles are stllt susceptlbte !o a va.1e!y oi aileases and dlagnosls is often dlfficutt and onty Learned by It is recodlrended tha! staff should becone thoaouchlv aquainted wlth rhe antmal's lnrerna.L anaromy co OE a6Le to disthguish between healthy and cllseased organs. If lne.e is a veterlnary or palhotoglcal taborato;y, o. if contact with a veterinary offtcer in the region'1s possible,.samptes should be despatched for ;xaminatlon, or. the veteainaalan consulted. ALso that anlmats (not foun; freshly dead ftoacing in the waler) should be autopsied. The nerhods reco,nnended are those outllnecl by Verseput (1986) and are as folfows; 20.1. 2O,I.(a) SterlIe SanDles. 1. These should be taken es soon as trre carcass has been dlssected. 148 2. They shoul.d be taken with sterile fo.ceps ancl scissors. (Ftanlng of the instruments just befoae use will suffice ) . 3. The speclnen size shoutd be about 5 x 5 x 2 cn. 4. The speclmen shoulct be dropped tnto a sterl]e contalner and the container lmnedlately sealed. 5. A sepaaate containe. must be usect for each orcan 6. A sepa.ate set of instruments shoutct be used for lhe stornach and the intestlnes as these will become contaninated with gastro-intestinaf conten!s. 7. The containers rnust be narked with the caococlite,s identification, the date, the organ ancl nane of the faam. 8. Specimenswhlch are not sent off immediately nust be kept in the refriaerator until despatch. 9. If the specimens are to be sent a tong distance they should be packed in ice in an insulared c;ntaine.. 20.1.(b) Formalinlsed Samptes Blocks of tissue, no thlcke. than t _ 2 cn shoutd be.ut from the o.gans rith a sharp knife and piaceC in viats of a 10% forma.Iin conceniration wirh waie., and the sanples nust be comptetely immersecl. The viats or contarners must also be suitabty labe.Lted. For furthe. deralts on nethods of rearlng, hygiene, nutrltlonal requirements, the collec!ion anO'freparation of labofatory specinens, cornnon ailments, Aisiases and rreathents, refe. to Blake (1974), Foggin (1987). Joaien and McNease(1979), Frledland (1986), Foorey (19s2), Van de. Riet (1987) and Verseput (!997). 149 EA b0 +Di -c lD I o .c o d,c9 oc(6 .)! od.E,!.1J 5 C >O0!+ Od 6C4O 4c E doc ;coo " .c o3q .o r. Ca