Global Protection: Few to several (1-12) occurrences appropriately protected and managed

Comments: Some occurrence are in areas that provide a degree of protection, such as Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica; Morrocoy National Park, Venezuela; Everglades National Park, Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, and Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, USA. See USFWS (1998) for a description of designated critical habitat in Florida.

Needs: Crocodile habitat in Florida continues to need maintainance and enhancement to provide protection for all life stages of the existing crocodile population and to ensure that available habitat can support population growth and expansion (USFWS 2007). Further acquisition of nesting and nursery sites and additional crocodile habitat by federal, state, and local governments and implementation of management on these publicly owned
properties are necessary to ensure protection to crocodiles and their nests and enable expansion of populations size and distribution (USFWS 2007).

Protection from poaching is critical in many parts of the range.