Uso histórico y actual del caimán llanero (Crocodylus intermedius) en la Orinoquia (Colombia-Venezuela)

The Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) is a resource that was exploited by indigenous and creole populations from the Orinoco Llanos in past centuries for food, medicine, and mystical and cultural traditions. These uses and the speciesâ former abundance were exposed through the works of voyagers and adventurers who traveled through the Orinoco basin between the 17th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century. Settlement and the development of agricultural and cattle raising activities increased the perception of the species as a threat to human interests. At the beginning and middle of the 20th Century, the crocodile was intensively exploited for the trade of its skin. This situation provoked the near extinction of the species. At present, despite its critical situation, its eggs continue to be collected for consumption in nearly all known wild populations where reproductive events occur. This activity, joined with capture of hatchlings and juveniles, premeditated or accidental deaths of specimens, habitats destruction, and the possible changes in the natural hydrological dynamics, are preventing its recovery or even reducing the populations in the wild.