Amazonian alligator bounces back from the brink

Researchers capture and measure an endangered black caiman in Brazil in order to examine changes in the animals' population

November 16, 2000
Web posted at: 3:27 PM EST (2027 GMT)

By Gary Strieker
CNN Environmental Correspondent

MAMIRAUA RESERVE, Brazil (CNN) -- Hunters and poachers decimated the black caiman population in the Amazon for more than a century. Mysteriously, the tropical alligator managed to rebound. Now scientists know why.

It can be dangerous in the reserve near the rivers at night, especially for those hunting the black caiman, the largest predator in the Amazon Basin.

The alligators, which can reach nearly 20 feet (3.5 meters) in length, are not considered man-eaters, but there are exceptions.

And thousands of black caimans live in the rivers and lakes of the Mamiraua reserve, according to experts.

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"In this area we have the biggest population of black caiman we know in all of amazon basin," said Ronis Da Silveira of the Mamirau Project.

An ongoing study sponsored by the New York-based wildlife conservation society has discovered how caimans survive in such numbers.

Researchers capture caimans and record length, weight and other data, learning what they can about these animals. The project began five years ago, when black caiman were considered endangered in the reserve.

For more than a century they were prized for their skins and nearly hunted to extinction. The Brazilian government outlawed the killing but poachers have continued to hunt the animals for their meat.

Some conservationists say that legalized caiman hunting will give local people an incentive to preserve the animals

Every year they take an estimated 100,000 tons of caiman meat from the reserve.

Despite the poachers, the caiman population in the reserve has grown. The reason remained a mystery until a few years ago, when scientists discovered that during the dry season, large breeding populations retreat to secluded areas.

"Many of these caiman are living back in these interior forest lakes, which is just very difficult for the hunters to get to in their boats," said John Thorbjarnarson of Wildlife Conservation Society, a 105-year-old conservation organization affiliated with the Bronx Zoo in New York.

The caiman population has recovered so successfully in the reserve that some conservationists support legalizing controlled hunting. They think small-scale hunting would give local people in the reserve a financial incentive to protect these potentially dangerous animals.

"If they can make some money off the caiman, like they do from the fish, I think they'll be much more accepting of having caimans swimming around and living in these lakes with them," Thorbjarnarson said.

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