Sexual Maturity of Farm-Released Caiman latirostris (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae) in the Wild

LARRIERA, A.; SIROSKI, P.; PIÑA, C.I.; IMHOH, A.

HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEW

SSAR

Año: 2006 vol. 37 p. 26 - 28

0018-084X

One strategy to enhance small populations of crocodilians is to release captive-reared individuals into the wild. However, information is scarce on the success of relocated and translocated animals. There are concerns about released animals and their ability to hunt for food and adapt to their environment that might result in low survivorship following release. Low survivorship would result in very poor recruitment of captive-reared animals as compared to wild crocodilians. During summer 2001-2002 we captured 14 Caiman latirostris females defending their nest. Of those 14 females, seven were marked females of known age and part of the released stock of C. latirostris from Proyecto Yacaré. Five of the previously marked females were nine years old, the remaining two were ten years old. Clutch size of the seven released females was similar to a subset of data from wild clutches, and there was no difference in hatching success. Our results indicate that releasing yearling Caiman latirostris can successfully provide a source of recruitment of breeders to the wild populations.