Crawling with crocodiles

A few minutes off the Golden Grove main road in St Thomas lies a place of refuge for endangered species called the Holland Crocodile Sanctuary. And it’s crawling with more than 170 of them!

A long, narrow, and rocky track leads to the wetland, where the crocs are housed amid the dense foliage far from the public.

And if its location isn’t deterring enough, those who may wander close to the territory are strictly warned by the daunting signs posted at the sanctuary’s entrance: ‘Caution: Crocodile Habitat’, ‘No Trespassing’, ‘Private Property’, and ‘Warning, Beware of Dogs’.

Crocodile conservationist Lawrence Henriques beamed with pride as he spoke about his project, which has been in operation at the St Thomas site since 2018.

The sanctuary serves multiple functions, including rescue and rehabilitation, education, conservation, and captive breeding. The project is geared at the repopulation of wetlands around Jamaica’s south coast, which has suffered severe depletion of the species because of illegal hunting.

Under the Wild Life Protection Act, it is illegal to possess, hunt, kill, capture, or wilfully molest crocodiles. Individuals found guilty of the offence may be charged a maximum fine of $100,000 or face one year in prison.

Henriques said that the project once operated on the White River in St Mary but was relocated on the request of the Government following concerns about proximity to the public.

Despite the displacement, the wildlife enthusiast remains passionate about conserving the crocodiles.

“Our wild crocodile population is very poor in terms of numbers not only because of habitat loss, but also because of the illegal hunting of the reptile,” Henriques told The Gleaner.

“We are now trying to re-establish young animals in different places so we can maintain a wild population to be more consistent with the ecosystem we have in place,” he said as he defended the importance of the reptiles to the ecosystem.

Henriques said that he was inspired to get involved in preservation and protection when he returned to Jamaica in 1980 from overseas studies and realised that “there was very little going on for the crocodiles in Jamaica”.

“Infrastructure for protecting them and monitoring the state of the population in the wild was very sparse, so I offered my help and ended up doing it for years,” he said.

Pausing briefly to throw bits of chicken to juveniles that splashed hungrily to secure a bite, Henriques hailed two adult reptiles freely wandering about the property.

The crocodile conservationist’s home is surrounded by holding areas for other older reptiles, some of which will soon be released.

“It’s like an insurance policy. I’m keeping the species going in Jamaica similar to what the iguana project is doing in Hellshire. We have reptiles here of all ages. We have hatchling animals every breeding season, and we keep them for three years then we do health checks. We microchip them, giving their personal electronic ID, and then we select places for them to be released,” Henriques said.

Those animals, he shared, are about three feet long, strong enough to reintegrate into the wild and fend for themselves while not posing a threat to human life.

Henriques, who spoke strongly against the illegal hunting and killing of the endangered reptiles, said that he is available to educate the public on the importance of crocodiles to the environment.

shanna.monteith@gleanerjm.com

The National Environment and Planning Authority is urging the public to report crocodile sightings or offences at 876-754-7540 or toll-free 888-991-5005. Persons may also call 119 or make a report to the nearest police station.