Information
In
the past, crocodiles were considered threats to humans
and livestock. They were vermin to be eliminated. Some
species were hunted for their hides with little effort
to conserve them. Countries that purchased the hides to
turn them into high fashion leather products did not care
that they were being over-exploited in the countries that
produced the hides. Illegal hunting, poaching, and smuggling
was rampant. By 1971, all the alligators, crocodiles,
caimans, and gharials were endangered, threatened, or
declining in numbers. The CSG reversed the decline and
endangerment of two-thirds of the world's crocodilians.
In only 25 short years, 16 of the 23 existing species
have been returned to abundance. This level of conservation
success has not been achieved with primates, not with
whales, not with spotted cats, not with parrots and macaws,
nor with any other major group of wildlife.
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