The Siamese crocodile is a medium-sized freshwater crocodile native to Cambodia and is listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List. The illegal capture of wild crocodiles for supply to farms, as well as incidental capture/drowning in fishing nets and traps, have pushed the species closer to extinction. According to some reports, commercial crocodile farming in Cambodia began in 1945, mainly around the Tonle Sap Lake – the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and home to around 1.2 million people living in floating villages around the great lake. According to the IUCN special report (2005), the number of crocodile farms around the Tonle Sap Lake increased dramatically in the mid-1980s, and numbers have continued to increase to this day. Given that a high proportion of farms are not licensed, precise estimates are not available. However, some research shows that an estimated 90,000 crocodiles are in private farms in and around the great lake. Such chronic overharvesting of the freshwater species has led to the decline of the wild Siamese crocodile.
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