Wild Crocodiles Thailand

[denishuahin]

Has anyone heard about the Crocodile found yesterday ( Sunday 31st Oct ) near Nong Don / Lamplaimat a Thai told me it had been on the radio Sunday I asked where. You can guess the answer to that! But I think in a large river pool in between Nong Don and Kho klang. The locals say it was a very big one, if they find it will be dead by now for sure. Pity because I looked up wild crocodiles Thailand and they say only one in Khao Yai park , Korat province and that one maybe from a farm. Anyone know anything?

[quiksilva]

They are out there, but seriously rare. Thailand has its own native freshwater croc, the Siamese Crocodile aka Crocodylus Siamensis, they are trying to reintroduce back into the wild at Bang Sida National Park near Cambodia

They had a few others too including a Saltwater croc which is now thought to be extinct in the wild but most of them are still being bred by farms. The following links have more details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_Crocodile

http://www.ecologyasia.com/news-archives/2001/jul-01/bangkokpost_160701_Outlook01.htm

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/project/projects_in_depth/dry_forests_ecoregion/about_the_area/indochina_spp/siamese_crocodile/

[MSingh]

There can't be ONE wild Crocodile only can there ??

So you say it was found, then you say if the locals have found it by now it would be dead, so what is it ?? Has it been found or not ??

I know Siamese Crocs are very rare, like the previous Poster said..

I saw one get pulle dfrom a Pond on the News a few weeks back, not that big really as far as Crocs go, 6ft or so, don't know where it was..

[phaethon]

Which of these is the endangered species...?

[Johnniey]

15 years ago in North Bangkok, there were 2 crocodiles found in the Chao Praya river. That was the worst flooding for a long time - they escaped from somewhere upriver.

[Richb2004v2]

I saw the 'one' in Kao Yai a couple of years ago. I was amazed to discover that it is thought to be the only crocodile in the wild, and even that probably escaped from a farm.

[Thongkorn]

My Thai wife assures me that there are crocodiles about in Thai rivers , also there are bears and a few tigers,In the remote jungles in Thailand. They are finding many things that was thought to have died out , so i would not bet agains it being the only one. I think twice about entering any Thai rivers, Snakes grow very big and some eat people. but thats another story.

[Goshawk]

there is an ongoing re-introduction program of the Siamese Croc back into the wild.. Previously, they had been wiped out in Thailand.

I found & photographed this croc sitting on a log in Khao Yai 4 years ago..

Must say, i was quite excited at the time.. convinced myself i'd rediscovered the thought to be extinct 'Siamese' in Thailand

later transpired after i alerted the Park Officials (who had no idea it was there) that it was probably just an escaped hybrid Siamese/Saltwater croc from a skin farm.. Since that sighting, more & more 'wild' crocs have been 'found'...

Edited November 1, 2010 by Goshawk

[travelmann]

I find it rather sad the Thais feel the need to kill everything they find or parade it on tv until it dies. Wife told me when she as a kid there were many animals on their land in Loei now there are very few, shes 34 yrs old.

[Atmos]

travelmann - agree; we're in sth Sa Kaeo, apparently 15 years ago there were monkeys and elephants on this farm property, now as all the land has been developed for crops there is no bush/trees other than plantation eucalyptus. There are still wild elephants but they're 12km away in an area that has recently got smaller as a rubber plantation has expanded.Crocs - yes Pangsida is about an hour north of us, in 2005 there was a release programme there. Conservation of the remaining wild populations of Siamese Crocodile in Cambodia and Indonesia (Kalimantan) is considered a high priority for the CSG. The species is virtually extinct in the wild in Thailand, although recent surveys (in 2004) indicated that the total wild population may consist of about 100 individuals in 5 habitats. Reintroduction of captive-bred juveniles was carried out in 2005 and 2006 in Pang Sida National Park in eastern Thailand (UNESCO World Heritage Area). (http://www.iucncsg.org/ph1/modules/Home/major_initiative.html)Freshwater Crocodiles at Kaeng Yai Mak (แหล่งจระเข้น้ำจืดแก่งยายมาก) is approximately 5km from the Office of the National Park. Turn into Ban Khlong Phak Khom – Thung Pho for 50km. It is a place where freshwater crocodiles have been discovered since 1981 to have remained in the Huai Nam Yen Forest, where there is an observatory tower provided near the National Park’s Po Do 1 (Kaeng Yai Mak) Ranger Station.(http://www.2tourthailand.com/Modules/Map/PlaceDetail.aspx?Id=270103) Legend has it there are tigers in Pangsida but reality suggests they are long gone; this didn't stop the ranger joking 'keep your windows up for tigers'. We were on a motorbike.

[MSingh]

I think twice about entering any Thai rivers, Snakes grow very big and some eat people. but thats another story.

Anaconda's in the Amazon yeah, which is only a little over 10k Miles from Thailand yeah..

[bonobo]

I think twice about entering any Thai rivers, Snakes grow very big and some eat people. but thats another story.

Anaconda's in the Amazon yeah, which is only a little over 10k Miles from Thailand yeah..

Yes, you are correct on the snakes. Other than the poisonous ones, not much of a threat in Thailand.

There are, however, humongous fresh water stingrays in Thai rivers, to include the Chao Prya, maybe larger than any other freshwater fish. I have seen them on television, and from the size of those barbs, I would hate to step on one of those things. Supposedly a guy was killed by one a bit upriver from Bangkok.

[Richb2004v2]

My Thai wife assures me that there are crocodiles about in Thai rivers , also there are bears and a few tigers,In the remote jungles in Thailand. They are finding many things that was thought to have died out , so i would not bet agains it being the only one. I think twice about entering any Thai rivers, Snakes grow very big and some eat people. but thats another story.

Yeah, but many Thais also believe the forests are full of ghosts, bandits and Buddha knows what else. There's probably more chance of finding a ghost than a tiger though.