Siamese crocodiles were almost hunted to extinction. Now, efforts to reintroduce the species may be Cambodia’s most successful conservation story.
Most people would be terrified of entering waters with crocodiles, but not Sao Chan. Like others living in this jungle village, deep inside southwestern Cambodia’s remote Cardamom Mountains, the 73-year-old farmer says the Siamese crocodiles found in the waterways here may look ferocious, but they should not be feared. “If we come close to them, they just run away,” Chan says.
He’s right. There have been extremely few reported attacks by Siamese crocodiles on humans in the world, and reportedly none anywhere in Cambodia. Instead, it’s the crocodiles that have every reason to fear people. Once common throughout Southeast Asia, the notoriously shy Siamese crocodile, which can grow up to 10 feet long, was for decades hunted