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Amazônia: Do you have any estimates of the current exploration of black caimans in terms of numbers of animals or tonnes of meat?

RDS: In Amazonia? It is impossible to calculate because it is a black market and we do not have the means to monitor it. If there is a management plan, the situation is reversed. We know that black caiman populations are under pressure on the Solimões, Japurá, Purus and Amazonas rivers. Every year, hundreds of thousands of animals die, which means hundreds of tonnes of meat. The worst thing is that the state does not earn anything from this trade. Biodiversity is threatened and the rural population becomes poorer. No illegal activity is in the interests of the social good.

Amazônia: How much could be exploited annually according to the management plan?

RDS: Between 5% and 10% of the animals which were counted during nocturnal surveys. If 100 were counted, we take 10. If 1000 were counted, 100, and so on. Surveys conducted before animals are killed will indicate how many animals will be removed. We have to begin before we can improve exploration techniques. It is what is internationally known as adaptive management, or, the rules changes in relation to the evolution of the market, new scientific research and principally, how the alligators are responding to management. As a result of these factors, the percentage of the population exploited could increase, decrease or even be blocked. It is nothing more than the management of resources. If you have more money in the savings account, you can waste more. If you have less, you waste less. If you do not have anything, it is obviously not worth getting into debt.

Amazônia: Do you have anything to add?

RDS: You have to be very careful with this subject. We are not defending the legalization of black caiman hunting in Amazonia. It is not that. I defend self-sustainable exploitation, based on scientific data and with the rigorous monitoring of activities. My intention is to break the black market and make legal management more attractive, generating legal jobs at the local level, as well as the resources to continue research and monitoring. The idea of protecting Amazonian alligators 100% is an illusion. We have to let some go as a means of getting the local population to help us preserve the remaining 90%.

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