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THE BLACK CAIMAN

COMMON NAMES:
Black caiman, Caiman, Yacare

LOCATION:
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela

ENVIRONMENT:
Found in various freshwater habitats (e.g. slow-moving rivers, streams, lakes and flooded savannah and wetlands). Although overlapping with the range of other caiman species in South America, it appears to occupy different habitat niches.

STATUS:
IUCN-International Union of Conservation of Nature (Low Risk, lest Concern)  Estimated wild population: up to 1,000,000

APPEARANCE:
This is the largest species in the Alligatoridae family with males can reach at least 12ft. and their general appearance not dissimilar to the American Alligator. As the common name suggests, they have a dark colouration. The lower jaw has grey banding which is brown in older animals, and pale yellow or white bands are present across the flanks of the body. This banding fades as the animal gets older. Structurally they are dissimilar to other caiman species, particularly in the shape of the skull. They have distinctly larger eyes, and a narrow snout. The bony ridge extending from above the eyes down the snout, and this is seen in other caiman as well.

DIET:
Their diet consists of fish including piranhas, catfish and aquatic vertebrates, including large Capybara rodents. They also show more terrestrial hunting activity, particularly at night, with having acute sight and hearing their hunting skills are very accurate. Youngsters start eating small crustaceans, of course, before moving onto larger, terrestrial prey. The larger Black Caimans have also been reported to attack domestic animals and even people.

BREEDING:
Information regarding their reproductive ecology is scarce. The females construct a mound nest about 4ft in diameter during the dry season into which 30 to 65 eggs are laid. The nests can be found in both concealed and open locations. Females remain close to the nests. Once the eggs are ready to hatch, she will open the nest and assist in the hatching process. Hatching reported to occur between 42 and 90 days, and seems to be timed with the beginning of the wet season. As many females often nest within close proximity with other females, the number of hatchlings is one area can be high which leaves the impression of safety in numbers.

CONSERVATION:
This species is found throughout the Amazon basin. However, once populations became severely depleted due to commercial hunting, attention was turned to those species with slightly smaller or lower-grade skins. Their skin produces a shiny, black leather. Population recovery today is hindered by both continued illegal hunting and through increased competition with the more numerous Spectacled which have moved into areas once inhabited by the Black Caiman. Hunters can take both of these species with ease. Habitat destruction through deforestation and burning of swamplands in French Guiana continues to this day.

Management programs centre around the legal protection of remaining wild populations, but these laws are difficult to enforce effectively. The skins can be difficult to differentiate from those of the Spectacled Caiman.