Black Caiman - Threats

Threats

Many predators, including various fish, mammal, reptile and even amphibian species, feed on caiman eggs and small young. Once the Black Caiman attains a length of a few feet, it has few natural predators. Large anacondas may take an occasional young caiman of this species. The Jaguar (Panthera onca), being a known predator of all other caiman species, is the only primary predatory threat to juvenile black caimans. Mature male black caimans likely have no natural predators, as is true of other similarly-sized crocodilian species given the size, weight and immense biting strength.

The Black Caiman's main predator is humans, who hunt them for leather or meat. This species was classified as Endangered in 1970s due to the high demand for its well-marked skin. The trade in black caiman leather peaked from the 1950s to 1970s, when the smaller but much more common Spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) became the more commonly hunted species. Local people still trade black caiman skins and meat today at a small scale but the species has rebounded overall from the overhunting in the past. The fact that black caimans lay, on average, around 40 eggs has helped them recover to some degree. Perhaps an equal continuing threat is habitat destruction, since development and clear-cutting is now epidemic in South America. Spectacled caimans have now filled the niche of crocodilian predator of fish in many areas. Due to their greater numbers and faster reproductive abilities, the Spectacled populations are locally outcompeting Black caimans, although the larger species dominates in a one-on-one basis. Persistent management is needed to control caiman-hunting and is quite difficult to enforce effectively. After the depletion of the Black caiman population, piranhas and Capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), having lost perhaps their primary predator, reached unnaturally high numbers. This has, in turn, led to increased agricultural and livestock losses.

Compounding the conservation issues it faces, this species occasionally preys on humans. Most tales are poorly-documented and unconfirmed but, given this species' formidable size, predation on humans can be fatal.