CROCODILE SPECIALIST GROUP NEWSLETTER VOLUME 33 No. 1 • JANUARY 2014 - MARCH 2014 IUCN • Species Survival Commission CSG Newsletter Subscription The CSG Newsletter is produced and distributed by the Crocodile CROCODILE Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The CSG Newsletter provides information on the conservation, status, news and current events concerning crocodilians, and on the SPECIALIST activities of the CSG. The Newsletter is distributed to CSG members and to other interested individuals and organizations. All Newsletter recipients are asked to contribute news and other materials. The CSG Newsletter is available as: • Hard copy (by subscription - see below); and/or, • Free electronic, downloadable copy from “http://www.iucncsg. GROUP org/pages/Publications.html”. Annual subscriptions for hard copies of the CSG Newsletter may be made by cash ($US55), credit card ($AUD55) or bank transfer ($AUD55). Cheques ($USD) will be accepted, however due to increased bank charges associated with this method of payment, cheques are no longer recommended. A Subscription Form can be NEWSLETTER downloaded from “http://www.iucncsg.org/pages/Publications. html”. All CSG communications should be addressed to: CSG Executive Office, P.O. Box 530, Karama, NT 0813, Australia. VOLUME 33 Number 1 Fax: (61) 8 89470678. E-mail: [email protected]. JANUARY 2014 - MARCH 2014 PATRONS IUCN - Species Survival Commission We thank all patrons who have donated to the CSG and its conservation program over many years, and especially to CHAIRMAN: donors in 2013-2014 (listed below). Professor Grahame Webb PO Box 530, Karama, NT 0813, Australia Big Bull Crocs! ($15,000 or more annually or in aggregate donations) EDITORIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICE: PO Box 530, Karama, NT 0813, Australia Japan, JLIA - Japan Leather & Leather Goods Industries Association, CITES Promotion Committee & Japan Reptile Printed by: Uniprint NT Leather Industries Association, Tokyo, Japan. Charles Darwin University, NT 0909, Australia Heng Long Leather Co. Pte. Ltd., Singapore. Hermes Cuirs Precieux, Paris, France. Singapore Reptile Skin Trade Association, Singapore. COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Karin Ebey (10 y), long-time Species Management Specialists, Canberra, ACT, Australia. donor to the Crocodile Specialist Group, designed a calendar United Leather Product Co. Ltd. and Nakorn Sawan Crocodile for 2014, depicting 12 species of crocodilian. This issueʼs Farm, Thailand. cover shows some of Karinʼs drawings. Friends ($3000 - $15,000) [You can download Karinʼs calendar at www.iucncsg.org]. CAICSA, Colombia. Captain Morgan Rum, South Carolina, USA. EDITORIAL POLICY: All news on crocodilian conservation, Conservation Force, Louisiana , USA. research, management, captive propagation, trade, laws and Crocodile Conservation Institute, SC, USA. regulations is welcome. Photographs and other graphic materials Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. are particularly welcome. Information is usually published, as Mainland Holdings, Lae, Papua New Guinea. submitted, over the authorʼs name and mailing address. The editors Phillip Cunliffe-Steel, New Zealand/Australia. also extract material from correspondence or other sources and these Enrico Chiesa, Italhide, Italy. items are attributed to the source. If inaccuracies do appear, please Yee Tai Leather Enterprise Ltd., Hong Kong. call them to the attention of the editors so that corrections can be published in later issues. The opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals identified and are not the opinions of CSG, the SSC Supporters ($1000 - $3000) or the IUCN unless so indicated. William Belo, Coral Agri-Venture Farm, Philippines. 2 Shaun Foggett, Crocodiles of the World, Witngy, Oxon, it is a CITES compliance problem, because taking animals UK. from the wild is in direct contravention of Colombian law. J. Perran Ross, Gainesville, Florida, USA. The good news is that the Colombian CITES Management Florida Power & Light Inc., Florida, USA. Authority, working with the regions and farms, are doing George Saputra, IRATA, Jakarta, Indonesia. farm audits with a view to identifying and shutting down St. Augustine Alligator Farm, Florida, USA. illegal producers and traders. In the opinion of the CSG, now Porosus Pty. Ltd., NT, Australia. is the time for the CITES Secretariat to assist the Colombian Yosapong Temsiripong, “Sriracha Moda” and “Crocodile & CITES Management Authority to clean up what has become Ostrich Cooperative of Thailand”, Thailand. a messy compliance issue. Virginia Aquarium and and Marine Science Center Foundation, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. The Christmas CrocFest 2013, a fundraiser for crocodilian Zambia Crocodile Farmers Association, Lusaka, Zambia. conservation, took place in December 2013 at Shawn and Jen Heflickʼs facility in Palm Bay, Florida, USA, and raised Contributors ($250 - $1000) $US15,000. Together with the Summer CrocFest (June 2013), these events have raised a total of $US26,000, which on the East Coast Zoological Society (Brevard Zoo), FL, USA. basis of a lot of discussion and action by CSG members, will Simone Comparini, Pantera S.R.L., S. Croce s/Arno, Italy. go to Crocodylus acutus conservation and management in Crocodile Park, Malaga, Spain. Jamaica (see pages 7-8). Vic Mercado, Microlab, Philippines. The Ebey family, New Mexico, USA. On 24-25 April 2014 the Executive Officer and I will attend Nao Thouk, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. a “Siamese Crocodile Conservation and Husbandry Meeting” Marco Schultz, Germany. and a “Siamese Crocodile Task Force Meeting”, to be held again at Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. We are hoping for further constructive discussion of the CITES- related issues on Crocodylus siamensis utilisation within the Editorial East and Southeast Asian region that were identified at the regional C. siamensis meeting in April 2011. Once again it is very saddening to learn of the passing of two The “2nd Symposium on Colombian Crocodilians”, with of our well-respected CSG members. Dr. Fritz Huchzermeyer the theme of “Crocodilian Conservation - An Opportunity was known to most CSG members, and was one of the for Communities” will be held on 2 December 2014, under worldʼs leading crocodilian veterinarians (see pages 4-5). the auspices of the “5th Colombian Congress of Zoology” His book “Crocodiles: Biology, Husbandry and Diseases” (1-5 December 2014), in Cartagena, Colombia. An invitation remains a pivotal and classic reference source. He was just containing information can be downloaded from the homepage a great guy, always willing to help anyone who asked for his of the CSG website (www.iucncsg.org). People can contact advice. Dr. Peter McInnes was another great guy. He was the symposium organisors ([email protected]) particularly well known in Australia, where for 20 years he for any additional details. was a research manager with the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), one of the only The 27th meeting of the CITES Animals Committee will organisations funding research on crocodile farming. The be held in Veracruz, Mexico, from 28 April to 3 May 2014. CSG is one of the larger Specialist Groups within the SSC, As usual, a few CSG members will be present in different but I suspect one with some of the oldest members! We really capacities. Mexico is hosting a side meeting to discuss some need to encourage new and younger members, which is what aspects of its Crocodylus moreletii management program, our Student Research Assistance Scheme (SRAS; http://www. and a Swiss NGO called RESP will be presenting its ideas iucncsg.org/pages/General-Information.html) is all about. about trade in crocodilian skins. It is important that all CSG members, from industry to science, are fully aware that there In early March I wrote to Mr. John Scanlon, Secretary is no formal link between the CSG and RESP. The ideas General of CITES, regarding compliance issues with Caiman expressed by RESP, to date, do not reflect in any way the c. fuscus farming in Colombia. These issues were raised by opinions of the CSG. the CITES Standing Committee. For the last 20 years, the CSG has been well aware that compliance with Colombiaʼs In terms of global issues concerning conservation, national legislation had been an ongoing problem. Skins management and trade in world crocodilians, let me again from wild caimans, especially adults in which the flanks are stress the importance of the 23rd Working Meeting of the valuable, are simply trimmed to meet the prescribed size CSG (McNeese University, Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA; limits. There is no basis for those prescribed limits, which are 26-30 May 2014), to be held 3 weeks after the CITES in direct contradiction to the hard scientific data available. Animals Committee meeting. It promises to be one of the Large wild-caught caimans have been exported continually biggest working meetings of the CSG yet held. I urge all CSG and in large numbers. This does not constitute a conservation members and others interested in crocodilian conservation problem as such, because the high biological productivity and trade to register and book accommodation as soon as of C. c. fuscus may compensate for the harvest. However, possible (www.CSG2014louisiana.com). 3 Lastly, I am happy to announce that my new book Wildlife in love with Hildegard, whom he had asked to type up an Conservation: In the Belly of the Beast (see page 6) has been assignment. A change in academic direction was followed