The Orinoco crocodile was given protected status in the 1970s but has yet to recover successfully.

The Orinoco crocodile is highly endangered due to excessive hunting for its hide.

The biology of the Orinoco crocodile is poorly documented in the wild, mostly due its small population.

Despite its large size, the Orinoco crocodile rarely poses a threat to humans, despite several reports.

The Orinoco crocodile is a hole nester, digging holes in the sand to lay their eggs.

When water recedes in the dry season, Orinoco crocodiles retreat to burrows they excavate into the riverbanks.

Immediately, the muddy waters heave and two gigantic Orinoco crocodiles, each 14 feet long, pound towards us at 30 mph, eyes glinting.

The Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius), is a critically endangered crocodile.

This river maintains the main Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) population in Venezuela and therefore of the entire world.

The Orinoco Crocodile is one of the rarest reptiles in the world, with fewer than 250 specimens remaining in the wild.

Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius)

The Orinoco crocodile can be recognised by its relatively long snout, which is narrower than that of the somewhat similar-looking American crocodile.

The Orinoco Crocodile ranks among the largest living reptiles as well as the largest predator in South America.

The snout is relatively longer and narrower than that of the American alligator, although broader on average than that of the Orinoco crocodile.

Reptiles: Orinoco crocodile, baba, turtle, tortoise, snakes, anaconda, tragavenado, cuaima, & mapanare.

The delta, 11,000 square miles, is a maze of winding channels separated by marshy mangrove forests that are also home to the jaguar and the Orinoco crocodile.

It is the largest crocodilian in the Americas, while American crocodiles and black caimans approach similar dimensions, on average the Orinoco crocodile is slightly larger.

The majority of the Orinoco crocodile's diet consists of large fish, their relatively narrow snout is ideally suited to minimize water resistance in capturing piscivorous prey.

The Orinoco crocodile is and apex predator and will take the opportunity to prey on a variety of reptiles, birds and mammals, including caimans on occasion.

In South America, two other crocodilians reportedly reach similar sizes: the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and the Orinoco Crocodile (C. intermedius).

It may be closely related to Neotropical crocodiles like the Orinoco crocodile, or to other African crocodiles like Crocodylus anthropophagus and Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni.

There are 1,200 anacondas on the ranch, the birdlife is possibly the finest in South America, and the rare and widely persecuted Orinoco crocodiles are making a tentative recovery.

As in many other Venezuelan localities, the release of captive bred Orinoco crocodiles in the Cojedes river is intended to reinforce in the long term the reproductive populations of this species.

Another problem is the increased population of Spectacled caimans, a smaller crocodilian that can outcompete the Orinoco crocodile for fish due to its much larger population and much more accelerated breeding rates.

Most of his experience has been with green iguanas and green anacondas, but he has also worked with other reptiles such as the Orinoco crocodile, spectacled caiman, and green sea turtles.

The Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius), is a critically endangered crocodile.

This river maintains the main Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) population in Venezuela and therefore of the entire world.

Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius)

IUCN/SSC Crocodylus intermedius.

Extensive studies have been reported on this species of American crocodile, as opposed to the Central American Crocodylus moreletii and the South American Crocodylus intermedius.

It is generally considered that the few records of both the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) as well as the Orinoco Crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) in the waters of Trinidad and Tobago were, for the most part, waifs from mainland South America.