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Trop Anim Health Prod (2008) 40:377381 DOI 10.1007/s11250-007-9103-4
ORIGINAL PAPER
Commercial crocodile farming in Botswana
B. M. Dzoma & S. Sejoe & B. V. E. Segwagwe
Accepted: 6 November 2007 / Published online: 25 November 2007 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007
Abstract A survey-based study was carried out to assess the state of crocodile farming in Botswana. A prepared, structured questionnaire was dispatched to crocodile farmers based on a directory provided by the Fisheries section of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and National Parks. The oldest farm was established in 1986. An average of three farms have been in operation since then, all of which obtained their stock from the Okavango and Thamalakane rivers in Botswana. The current stock averages 5 419 animals as follows: breeders 4%, hatchlings 56%, and growers 40%. The average clutch size and average hatchability were 47 eggs/clutch and 67% respectively. Mortality among hatchings and growers averaged 8.3% up to 12 weeks of age. Only one farm encountered some problems with Salmonella and fungal infections of the belly. Raw skins are sold to South Africa as a result
of the absence of a tannery. Crocodile farming should be encouraged in Botswana since a good market for crocodile products already exists.
Keywords Crocodile farming . Diseases . Hatchling survivability . Marketing . Reproductive performance
Introduction
Crocodile farming dates back to as far as the late 1960s with the establishment of one of the first farms in South Africa (Anon. 2002). It is centred on the rearing of the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) that is endemic to Africa, vulnerable, and in both appendices I and II of CITES (Branch 1988). However, crocodile farming is still regarded as an emerging industry with less experience in commercial intensive livestock principles than the more established industries such as pigs and poultry (Peuker et al. 2005). The main product from the crocodile is the skin, while meat, live animals and teeth are important by-products (Brazaitis 1987; Van Jaarsveldt 1987; IACTS 2004). World trade numbered 80,000 skins annually in 1993 with the majority coming from Zimbabwe (54%) and South Africa (15%) from ranching and captive breeding (farming) (Collins 1995). By 1996, the value of the industry in...