Nesting bahavior of the broad-snouted caiman (CAIMAN LATIROSTRIS) in captivity

PIERINI, SOFÍA EVELYN; IMHOF, ALBA; PIÑA, CARLOS IGNACIO; LARRIERA, ALEJANDRO

Skukuza

Congreso; 24th Working Meeting of the Crocodile Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN; 2016

Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG)-IUCN

The preferred habitat for the Broad-snouted caiman are heavily vegetated marshlands very difficult to access by humans, which explain the paucity of information on nesting behaviour. This information is necessary in the context of management programs and sustainable use that link local people through egg harvest programs, not only for the workers involved on the harvesting, but also for the researchers in the field. The observations of this work were carried out in a semi natural enclosure where animals breed every year with very little interaction with humans. It is located at Granja La Esmeralda Experimental Breeding Station in Santa Fe, Argentina. Two video cameras were installed at the nesting area which recorded activities of two nest 24 hours a day starting on December 2014 until March 2015, making a total of 93 days, where a total of 4464 videos of 30 minutes each were analyzed. Information on the weather conditions on a daily basis was gathered from the weather research center of Universidad Nacional del Litoral. An ethogram was made and the frequency of each activity was analyzed. We established the relationship between presence of Caiman latirostris at the nesting area and environmental variables. The observed behaviours were nest construction and maintenance (excavation, material incorporation, and compaction), vigilance (around the nest site, or at the nest) and aggressive social behaviours (confrontation, persecution,attacks). Vigilance activities are the most common, followed by the maintenance of the nest. The presence of female in the nesting area is related to environmental temperature and rainfall and varied over the breeding season. The activity in the nest decreases at high temperatures and heavy rains. In both nests multiple clutches occurred, which is one of the intraspecific interactions also registered in the wild.