The Success of Estuarinne Crocodille Crocodylus porosus Schneider 1801, Captivity with Ranching Scheme: A Case Study in A Captivity in Papua Province

Abstract

Estuarine crocodile in Indonesia was included in the category of Appendix II of CITES, thus its utilization and trade must be as speciments from captive units. Captive with ranching scheme was allowed only in Papua province and had occured for ± 15 years. Unfortunately, the recent condition showed a decreasing of ranching units and the number of crocodiles ranched. These can become a threat to the wild population in form of direct harvesting from the crocodile’s natural habitat. Technical activity was needed to assure that the ranching products was adequate in term of enlargement period and economic cutting size, of which the data was not yet available. This research was aimed to (1) describe the mastery of knowledge and technology practice within the management of estuarine crocodile at a captive unit, (2) measure the success rat of the captive and (3) identify the support from stakeholders for the success and sustainability of this ranching scheme captivity. The research took place in February – July 2012 at CV. Bintang Mas in Jayapura. The methods used for collecting data were observation, interview and literature study, also using descriptive analysis to analyze the data. The result showed that the knowledge mastery was at medium rate, though technically the captive unit were able to apply most of captive main activities. Mortality rate of juveniles during the enlargement period (4-5 years) was at the medium level (10-30%). The limitating factor for developing the captive unit was the human resource which was not yet reconciled with the availability of infrastucture. Success index assessment within the biology and technical criteria resulted a number of 0.622 which suggested that this captive unit had a fine category (62.2%), and was considered succesful and be allowed to utilize its product. As to increase the success and sustainability of estuarine crocodile captive unit with ranching scheme, the support from stakeholders in form of actions (cooperation, knowledge enhancement and conservation awareness) and expectation towards the improvement of management form and sustainable use were definitely needed.