It has been confirmed that the 150kg, 3.2m long crocodile that was found dead on Saturday in the Song Ba Ha hydropower plant’s reservoir in Ea Lam commune in the central province of Phu Yen, was strangled to death with two steel wires.

A 1m iron stake which was believed to be used by hunters was also found near the deceased reptile.

“The animal’s meat has changed color and no blood was found inside. Its skin has peeled off into separate pieces. This proves that the crocodile died three days ago,” Tran Van Bang, a biological specialist, explained.

The reptile is classified as a critically-endangered Siamese crocodile (crocodylus siamensis) on the Red List of IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature).

According to experts, the crocodile is a female that was nearly 100 years old.

After the animal was disemboweled, Bang put his hands deep into its abdomen to search for something.

A moment later, he disappointedly announced: “No eggs were found.”

“If eggs were found inside its abdomen, this would mean that she had been inseminated and that at least one male Siamese crocodile individual is still living in the lake,” Bang explained.

The 150kg, 3.2m long Siamese crocodile found being killed in Ea Lam commune. Photo: Tuoi Tre

“It is likely that this is the last Siamese crocodile of its kind in Vietnam,” Dr. Vu Ngoc Long, an ecological expert, told Tuoi Tre.

“Big fish” anecdote

Members of the Ê Đê ethnic minority community who live around Ea Lam Lake where the ill-fated crocodile was found dead told Tuoi Tre that in the 1970s Siamese crocodiles were often caught creeping into cowsheds in the area to prey on cows.

Local residents dubbed the crocodile “big fish” and respected them as their ancestors. There was a belief that when their ancestors passed away, their souls entered the “big fish,” so local residents never dared to harm it.

The Siamese crocodile’s body will be preserved as specimens to be displayed in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Dr. Long told Tuoi Tre that the WWF has concluded that there has been no presence of wild crocodiles in Ea Lam since 2001.

“Last year, we witnessed the death of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam. This year, we saw the disappearance of the alleged last fresh-water Siamese crocodile. Perhaps Asiatic elephants, Indochinese tigers, and gibbons will disappear from Vietnamese forests in the future,” Dr. Long sighed.

“An invaluable natural resource is fading away due to poor public awareness. Ending lives of animals means ending the future environment for our juniors,” Long insisted.

In 2005, when Dr. Long was told by local residents in Ea Lam commune that crocodiles were caught surfacing in some swamps, he immediately visited the area wishing to see the rare animal for the first time.

From 2006 to 2009, he and representatives from IUCN carried out examinations and surveys in the area, during which they collected samples of footprints and two samples of feces and once saw the eyes of an alleged Siamese crocodile.

Le Van Hien, Party Committee Secretary and chairman of the People’s Council of Ea Lam commune, told Tuoi Tre that he and other officials were told early this year that some hunters had caught two crocodiles in Ea Lam commune and then sold their meat to local residents.

“We were told that some people had bought the two crocodiles’ meat but when we arrived, their skin, meat and other organs had disappeared. The hunters hailed from another locality,” he claimed.