Cambodian conservationists have discovered 106 rare Siamese crocodile eggs at a wildlife sanctuary in western Cambodia, authorities say.
The discovery is said to be the biggest in the last 20 years and offers new hope for the survival of the world’s rarest crocodile species in the wild.
The research team discovered the species’ eggs in Cardamom National Park in May.
A total of 60 eggs hatched between June 27 and 30, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Environment, in collaboration with conservation group Fauna and Flora.
The eggs were discovered in Cardamom National Park in May (Bros Pov/Fauna & Flora via AP)
The site and the young reptile were being protected by rangers from the Cardamom National Park Wildlife Sanctuary, it added.
This crocodile species was once widespread across Southeast Asia but is now listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Poaching, habitat destruction, and hybridization with other crocodile species rendered them nearly extinct by the 1990s.
Cambodia’s Environment Minister Eang Sopharet said his ministry is working to protect the critically endangered Siamese crocodile and restore its habitat.
There are thought to be around 1,000 Siamese crocodiles living in the wild (Toy Ya/Fauna & Flora via The Associated Press)
There are thought to be around 1,000 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild, with more than 300 of them living in Cambodia.
In 2017, wildlife researchers found six eggs in Sre Ambel district of the southern Koh Kong province while searching for footprints and other signs of the reptile.
In late September 2021, conservationists discovered eight newly hatched turtles in a river in the Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary in eastern Cambodia, raising hopes that they may survive in the wild.