THE FUTURE OF INDIAN CROCODILES?

[Guest guest]

*http://www.wii.gov.in/envis/crocodile/sustain.htm*

*Future perspective -1

Sustainable Use of India's Crocodile Resource

Rom Whitaker *

 

 

*The crocodile is perhaps* an unlovely animal, but the demand for its skin

has never diminished since the first shoes and bags became popular well

before the turn of the century. The usage of crocodile skins peaked at an

estimated 5 million per year in the 1950's. Though the demand remains the

same, human pressure on crocodiles have slashed the trade to under a million

skins per year during the 1970's.

 

 

 

The drastic decline in crocodile populations in many countries has caused

concern and activated several governments and agencies to initiate

conservation measures. The World Conservation Unit (IUCN) has a Crocodile

Specialist Group to watch over the interests of the world's crocodiles. The

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ratified by

over 145 countries (including India), helps to control trade in those

species which are under severe pressure from over-hunting and loss of

habitat.

 

 

 

Crocodile conservation becomes necessary because, aside from the obvious

value of the skin, meat and other by-products, the crocodile plays a vital

ecological role as master predator in the aquatic habitats where it lives.

By preying on weak and diseased fish and animals, it maintains genetic

quality; by its habit of selective feeding, it controls predatory fish; its

presence thus actually helping to increase yields of edible fish for man.

 

 

 

While many developing countries have found to their dismay that crocodile

populations are remarkably easy to exterminate, crocodiles have responded

well to protective management initiative, wherever adopted. Crocodile (and

alligator) ranching, farming and rehabilitation programmes have been

underway in several countries for a number of years. Most of these have been

successful in maintaining wild crocodile populations and protecting millions

of acres of wetland habitat.

 

The programmes vary from country to country in dramatically different

scenarios, from outright licensed hunting of adult alligators (as in

Louisiana), to closed cycle captive breeding (South Africa) and collection

of eggs in the wild (Australia and Zimbabwe). Two things are common to all

of these wildlife management operations (a) local people (often tribal

people) are making a good economic return, and (b) wild crocodile

populations are doing well.

 

 

 

The Indian experience in crocodile conservation and rehabilitation in the

last 25 years has been very encouraging. But as a result of persisting with

a simplistic policy of bans and attempts to preserve wildlife for its own

sake, have drastically dwinded the crocodile populations. Here, conservation

is anti-people and the alarming decline in all our major wildlife species is

the tragic result. No single conservation strategy can solve the problems

faced by wildlife in India and it is vital that we continue to test new and

innovative conservation methods - even if it means upsetting some people.

Most opponents of sustainable use of wildlife are more interested in

protecting the principle of " preservation " rather than trying to solve our

problems of dwindling wildlife. Fundamentalist belief in the animal welfare

movement and lethargy on the part of some key Government bureaucrats are two

reasons why conservation cannot achieve in India what so many other

countries have accomplished.

 

 

 

In many countries, conservation through sustainable use is a strategy that

has proved remarkably effective in saving wildlife and involving the people

in it. It is essential that India too looks at all the various conservation

options, including sustainable use of wildlife if we are to effectively

conserve crocodiles and their dwindling habitat. Crocodile farming has done

wonders for the crocodilians in many developing countries and India is

lagging way behind. It is hoped that the following article will provoke some

pragmatic dialogue on this subject so vital to the future of India's

crocodilians.

 

 

 

Today, ranching is rapidly becoming the accepted technology for using this

valuable natural resource. " Ranching " differs from " farming " to the extent

that while the latter infers the actual breeding of adult crocodile in

captivity, the former refers to the enrolled utilization of the wild

population through collection of eggs and/or young and rearing them to

culling size in captivity. Farming demands a sophisticated technology and

investment for large enclosures and pond areas, ranching can be done on a

small scale with simpler inputs. Where adequate crocodile habitat still

exists, the controlled use of the crocodile resource is of reciprocal

benefit to the conservation of wild habitat, which is invariably under

pressure for many human needs. A simplified demonstration of the value of

the wild resource may be outlined as follows.

 

 

 

A female crocodile produces about 30 eggs per year. If , on a conservative

estimate, 50% (or 15) of the offsprings from one year are reared to culling

size (3 or 4 years in captivity), these 15 crocodiles will have a gross

value of Rs 156,000. It can be reasoned then, assuming a female crocodile

remains productive for about 30 years, that it is worth an accrued value of

Rs. 4,680,000 to protect that single female crocodile and the habitat she

lives in.

 

 

 

* Utilization Models*

 

During several years of serving as a consultant on crocodile farming for the

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the author had the

privilege of experiencing crocodile utilization programmes in Papua New

Guinea, Indonesia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Australia and the United States.

 

 

 

The Zimbabwe model of ranching is of special interest and has over two

decades of background to recommend it. The vital component of monitoring and

protecting the wild population of the Nile crocodile in Lake Kariba and on

the Zambezi river is the responsibility of the National Parks and Wildlife

Department. Five private crocodile ranches are licensed to collect a

specified number of eggs on payment of a royalty. In addition, the ranches

are obliged to supply 5% of their stock for any restocking scheme deemed

necessary by the Government to maintain or boost the wild population.

 

 

 

Mortality of eggs and young crocodiles in the wild is often as high as 95%

because of the many predators plus the hazards off flooding. Egg collection

and captive rearing can obtain an 80% survival rate of young crocodiles, and

provide the seed stock for ranching operations as well as for rehabilitating

depleted wild populations.

 

 

 

Organizations and conventions like IUCN and CITES allow Papua New Guinea,

with its network of 200 village and commercial ranches, to export its annual

production of nearly a million dollars worth of saltwater crocodile skins, a

species endangered almost everywhere else but well looked after in that

country.

 

 

 

In the southern USA, the wild population of over 2 million alligators is

carefully managed and millions of acres of prime wetland habitat (with the

countless organisms therein) protected for the sake of this single resource

animal.

 

 

 

France and Japan now top the import market for crocodile skins, paying

nearly US $ 5 per cm of belly skin, measured across the " chest " of the

reptile. The skins are converted into glossy, beautiful, strong leather and

made into a variety of articles from belts and wallets to handbags and

shoes. The preferred size of skin for the tanners is 37-50 cm belly width

which is reached in 3 or 4 years when the crocodile is 1.5m long.

 

 

 

It's a long way from the swamps of Papua New Guinea and the mysterious

rivers of Africa to the fashionable shops of Tokyo and Paris. But, odd as it

seems, the scaly giants of the rivers can provide employment for tribal

people in one part of the world, satisfy the whims of fashion in another and

still be safely managed and protected from over-exploitation.

 

 

 

* Crocodile Resource in India*

 

An accurate census of India's three crocodilian species is not available.

The number of gharial in the Chambal river is estimated to be over 1500, and

the number of saltwater crocodiles in Bihar Kanika (Orissa) is about 600.

These are two carefully monitoried crocodilian preserves but most of the

others are not. The third Indian species, the mugger, is found in most

states in small numbers ranging from 20-200 over a much wider range than the

other two. Significant populations of mugger (nowhere a single population of

over 200) are still found in Tamil Nadu, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra

Pradesh. Gharial are concentrated in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and

Rajasthan and the " salties " are also found in the Sunderbans and the Andaman

and Nicobar islands.

 

 

 

Extrapolating from the recent literature on the subject (ART, 1993), it is

estimated that the wild crocodile resource in India consists of :

 

 

 

Mugger

 

5000 +

 

Salt water crocodile

 

1000 +

 

Gharial

 

1500 - 2000

 

 

 

The three species have been bred in some numbers to restock wild habitats

and to partly fulfill the objectives of the FAO/UNDP sponsored Crocodile

Conservation Project. Unfortunately, the project fizzled out and no effort

was made to implement the final phase crocodile utilization as a

conservation tool. Few adequate habitats have been identified for any

further releases and thousands of crocodiles remain " stranded " at over a

dozen Government run farms and at least one private one (with 3000 mugger).

The estimated captive population of the three species is:

 

 

Mugger

 

5000

 

Saltwater crocodile

 

650

 

Gharial

 

500

 

 

 

* The Ideal Farm Animal*

 

Of the three Indian species, the mugger has proved to be the easiest to

breed and maintain. Social by nature, large groups can be kept in captivity

with excellent survival and growth rates. A female mugger will lay an

average of 30 eggs per clutch, and under the right conditions can lay two

clutches per year. She is mature in her sixth year and will go on laying for

at least thirty years.

 

 

 

Well-fed mugger can grow from hatchling size (30cm total length) to 150cm in

3 years. At that size, a mugger is worth over Rs. 10,000 for its skin, meat

and by-products. The raw skin sells for Rs.200 per cm of belly width and the

meat and other products are worth about 30% of the total skin value.

 

 

 

In the Indian context, it is logical to start sustainable usage with the

species we know most about. The mugger is a proven success in captivity and

the resource base is strong enough to make a start. The other two Indian

species are potential resources and indeed the saltwater crocodile skin

harvest in Papua New Guinea and Australia produce the world's most valuable

skins. Since " salties " have the unpopular habit of taking livestock and

occasionally even people, there is all the more reason to give them an

economic basis for survival. People who live around crocodile habitat have

little time or inclination to appreciate the finer points of crocodiles. To

most fishermen around Bhitarkanika or along the Chambal river crocodiles and

gharial are predator/competitor - no more and no less. Involving these

people in the profitability of crocodilians is an essential step in assuring

the long-term survival of these last major crocodile populations. Ranching

crocodiles has good potential.

 

 

 

* Ranching and Farming*

 

Since ranching means " harvesting " a certain percentage of the eggs and young

from the wild to hatch and rear them on crocodile " ranches " , the wild

crocodile and their habitat must be rigorously protected. Research and

monitoring are essential components of a ranching programme. However, if the

built resource base is not strong enough (as in most parts of India),

farming may be the better option. Closed cycle captive breeding of

crocodiles, originally taken from wild collected eggs, is the kind of

farming that has been a great success in many countries including Papua New

Guinea, Australia and Indonesia. Ideally, the crocodile management rogramme

in India will eventually have both the farming and ranching components.

 

 

 

* Crocodile Farm Economics*

 

There are many levels of crocodile farming. A village level single enclosure

farm with one male and two females can be simply run by a family which can

either sell the eggs and offspring or grow them to culling size if time,

space and resources permit. A large farm consists of about 200 breeding

females and 20 males. The egg production would be about 6000 per year and

the survival rate can be computed at a conservative 50%, or 3000 young

crocodiles.

 

 

 

At three years, the young mugger will reach 1.5m in length and have a skin

value of about Rs. 8000. Meat and other -products can bring the value of

each crocodile to about Rs. 10,000. Thus the 3000 surviving crocodiles

raised for 3 years have a gross value of Rs. 30 million.

 

 

 

To determine just how profitable crocodile farming in India can be, let us

work out the capital and recurring costs for a three year period:

 

 

 

*(a)* * Capital Investment *

 

 

Land (3 acres)

 

150,000

 

Purchase of adult

 

22,00,000

 

crocodiles

 

(220 & Rs. 10,000)

 

Crocodile pens and ponds

 

900,000

 

Water system (well pump pipes)

 

350,000

 

Feed shed

 

125,000

 

Skin shed

 

125,000

 

Freezer

 

250,000

 

Generator

 

175,000

 

Miscellaneous

 

725,000

 

*Total capital costs** *

 

*50,00,000 *

 

 

 

*(b)* * Recurring Costs*

 

 

Labour (2,40,000 per year x 3)

 

720,000

 

Feed @Rs. 10,000 per ton x 150 tons)

 

15,00,000

 

Farm operation (2,60,000 per year x 3)

 

780,000

 

*Total recurring costs *

 

*30,00,000 *

 

 

 

From this rough estimate, it can be seen that the total capital and

recurring outlay for three years would be about Rs. 80 lakhs (Rs 8 million).

Considering that the first three year harvest of farm-reared offspring will

have a value of Rs. 30 million, a profit of Rs. 22 million can be realized.

Compared to any other livestock rearing or fish farming, crocodiles make the

best economic sense.

 

 

 

The economics do fluctuate according to international trends but crocodile

leather is both durable and beautiful and the market has remained reasonably

stable. Because of the low overheads in India, crocodile farming here is

much more likely to survive possible downward market trends than say, the

USA and Australia where production costs are much higher.

 

 

 

* **Conclusion*

 

Careful use of crocodiles can have great conservation benefits for the

species and its habitat partners. It is time that India takes the necessary

steps to make this happen. The key objectives of setting up a countrywide

crocodilian management and utilization programme would be:

 

 

 

*1.* To ensure the future of wild crocodilians and their habitat.

 

*2.* To involve local people in use and management of the resource.

 

*3.* To use a portion of the revenue earned to benefit crocodile

conservation (through

 

supporting research, surveys and protection).

 

 

 

The pre-conditions for such a programme will be the re-designation of the

mugger and saltwater crocodiles under the Indian Wildlife Protction Act

(1972) to allow farming, ranching and trade in second generation (F2)

animals and the listing of captive bred animals as domestic stock as in the

case of captive elephants. These species will also have to be downlisted to

Appendix II of CITES to allow trade with other CITES signatory countries.

 

 

 

Most captive crocodiles in India are now several generations removed from

the wild. They are no longer wildlife, they are domestic reptiles in the

same way chickens, sheep, cows and pigs were once wild and have been

domesticated by humans. Wildlife utilization is already being practised on a

massive scale by India's fishermen, tribals who collect minor forest produce

and by the Irula Snake Catcher's Cooperative whose members catch snakes to

produce life saving venom. Crocodile farming can now point the way to a new

and dynamic approach to managing India's wildlife _ before we have lost

everything.

 

 

 

* References*

 

Anon. (1993) - Crocodilian conservation and management in India. *Report on

a Crocodile Specialist Group Workshop,* Madras Crocodile Bank, India.

 

 

 

ART, (1993) - Report on a workshop to review the sustainable use of natural

resources. *African Resources Trust* : U.K.

 

 

 

Webb, GJW; SC Manolis and PJ Whitehead (1987) - Wildlife management:

Crocodiles and alligators. *Surrey Beatty and Sons*: Sydney.

 

 

 

IUCN/UNEP/WWF, 1980. World Conservation Strategy; Living Resource

Conservation for Sustainable Development, Gland, Switzerland.

 

 

 

Whitaker, R (1989) - Crocodile farming as a tribal industry. *Herepton*,

Vol. 2 (I).

 

 

 

Das, I (1998) - Animal Farm. *`Seminar' 466.*

 

 

 

Whitaker, R and HV Andrews (1998) - Farm a crocodile and save a tiger.

*`Seminar'

466.*

 

 

 

Whitaker, R (1988) - The return of the crocodile. *Sanctuary Asia*. Vol.

VIII (3).

 

 

 

Luxmoore, RA (Ed) (1992) - Directory of Crocodilian Farming Operations.

World conservation Monitoring Centre: UK.