Crocodylus cataphractus

Common names: Slender-snouted crocodile, African gavial Range: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cte dIvoire, Dem. Rep. Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia

CITES: Appendix I
CSG Action Plan: Availability of Survey Data Extremely Poor
Need for Wild Population Recovery High
Potential for Sustainable Management Moderate
1996 IUCN Red List: DD Data Deficient, possibly EN Endangered or VU Vulnerable based on suspected declines.
Principal threats: Habitat destruction, illegal hunting.

Ecology and natural history

Ecology and natural history This narrow-snouted, medium-sized species reaches a maximum size of up to 4m (Brazaitis 1973). It is distributed widely throughout western and central Africa, where it apparently prefers riverine habitats in areas with dense vegetation (Waitkuwait 1989).

What little is known about C. cataphractus in the wild has been summarized by Waitkuwait (1989). Mound nests composed of organic matter are constructed along riverbanks at the beginning of the wet season. The nesting season broadly overlaps that of the sympatric dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis), but is more concentrated in time, and there appear to be differences in types of nesting habitat used. Females lay an average of approximately 16 eggs, and egg size is very large relative to female size.

Conservation and status

As with the largely sympatric dwarf crocodile, very few survey data are available for this species. Information from the work of Waitkuwait (1989) in Cte dIvoire, and the surveys of Behra (1987) in Gabon, Congo and the Central African Republic, suggested that in these four countries populations of C. cataphractus were somewhat depleted but not imminently threatened at that time. The largest remaining known population appears to be in the Ogoue River in Gabon. Incomplete information for three additional countries suggests that this species is somewhat depleted in Liberia, and severely depleted in Chad and Angola. Population decline in the past has been attributed to increased hide hunting associated with the decline of Crocodylus niloticus populations. Subsistence hunting and habitat destruction have also contributed to population decline (Pooley 1982).

Little new information has come to light on this species since the 1992 Action Plan was published. Surveys conducted in The Gambia, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau did not find any C. cataphractus and they may be extirpated there (Jones 1991). Dore (1991) reported that the status of C. cataphractus was precarious ... if it still exists in Nigeria. Reports from Togo and Congo both suggest C. cataphractus is very rare but still subject to harvest for skins (Behra 1993b, 1994b). Simbotwe (1993) suggests that Zambia was probably the southern range limit for the species and that changing habitat conditions in the Luapula river, Lake Mweru and Lake Tanganyika may mean C. cataphractus is now extinct in Zambia. Disruption of habitat by removing riverside vegetation and direct harvest for meat and skins are the major threats.

In most countries the management of C. cataphractus is based on the legal protection of wild populations. Limited sustainable utilization is beginning in some nations, based solely on the direct cropping of wild animals. Congo maintained an CITES export quota for the species of 200 per year in 19901992, but this has now lapsed and a few skins were exported. The regulated hunting of this species is permitted in Chad, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cameroon, and Dem. Rep. Congo, but does not appear to be part of specific management plans. No ranching or farming of the species has been attempted.

This species is one of the few crocodilians where the available information, although sparse, suggests a seriously deteriorating status. However, there are vast areas of potential habitat through the drainages of the Congo (Dem. Rep. Congo), Niger (Nigeria), Ogoue (Gabon) and numerous other large rivers in the region. Logistic difficulties and political instability make surveys in this region problematic. There is insufficient information to assess the status of this species and rectifying this situation is an urgent priority.

Priority projects

High priority

Surveys of population status throughout West and central Africa: Very little is known about the status of this species in the wild. Surveys need to be undertaken virtually throughout the species range. Surveys should be done on a country-by-country basis as part of an overall program for establishing conservation and management programs.

Moderate priority

Studies on ecology and population dynamics: Very little is known about the ecology of this species. Ecologically it appears to be somewhat similar to the tomistoma (Tomistoma schlegelii), another virtually unknown crocodilian. Population studies need to be undertaken at a number of sites, again as part of an overall plan for developing conservation and management plans for the species in the wild.

Captive slender-snouted crocodile, Crocodylus cataphractus, a native of west and central
Africa, Gator Jungle, Florida, USA. Photo by R. S. Funk.