Although wild
crocodiles are considered
endangered, the prospects
for growth in the crocodile
farming business really looks
good in Siem Reap,
Cambodia - up to 1,350 per cent, Nao Thuok, who is the deputy director of the fisheries department -also popularly known as the
Crocodile Man - promotes
raising crocodiles as a sideline for Cambodian farmers.
He says that the farming
activity could really be dangerous until one learns about
the different moods of the
reptiles. More than 400
farms have sprung up across
Cam bodia, about half of
them in the northwestern
province of Siem Reap.
Thuok, who has been
breeding crocodiles for 18
years, says that this
year, Cambodia is likely to
sign the Convention on the
International Trade in
Endangered Species which
allows the regulated export
of commercially raised
crocodile skins. He estimates
that foreign sales could
bring in us $20 million.
The Siem Reap state farm
has already received or4rs
from European and Japanese
buyers lookirf)(-for a steady
supply of skins from
which handbags, belts,
shoes and other items are
fashioned.
Sam Rithya, a Siem Reap
farmtT, says he bought
100 baby crocodiles f for us
$34 a piece in 1994 and was
recently offered us $30,000
for his operation. Rithya
says that the animals require
little space or care, have a
low mortality rate and can be
fed with cheap fish from
TonlAap, ,Cambodia's great lake.
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