Cuba to host event on endemic crocodiles

CIENAGA DE ZAPATA, Cuba, Sep 4 (ACN) The 7th National Workshop on the Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer) will be held in this region(western Cuba) from September 18 to 23, to socialize experiences among experts and breeders on the management of these reptiles in the wild and in captivity.

Acquiring methodological tools on technologies for field work is also among the purposes of the event, which will bring together specialists from several provinces in this, the largest wetland of the insular Caribbean, where most of the populations of the endemic reptile are concentrated.

Etiam Perez Fleitas, biologist and member of the managing committee, told the Cuban News Agency that during the meeting, representatives from each of the areas where conservation activities related to the Crocodylus rhombifer are being carried out will present their results.

According to the official program, participants will be trained in the use of spatial monitoring and reporting platforms such as Cybert Trake and SMART, which are successfully used worldwide to track wildlife.

In Cienaga de Zapata, located in the western province of Matanzas, some 180 kilometers southeast of Havana, the conservation of the Caribbean country's endemic crocodile benefits the ecosystem and the economy by generating income.

Crocodylus rhombifer has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2008, and is considered the crocodile species with the smallest geographic distribution range in the world.