Crocodile Prices Plummet Due to Sharp Decrease in Demand
- By Sem Brakdav
- February 20, 2024 5:30 PM
PHNOM PENH – The selling price of crocodiles has sharply decreased due to a dramatic drop in demand, crocodile farmer Proeurn Sopheap said.
“Before, I could earn $500 from selling one crocodile. Due to the stagnation in the crocodile market, the price has dropped to $30 per animal,” Sopheap said.
Such a low price no longer covers the production cost Sopheap faces. To minimize her losses, she had no choice but to reduce her production.
“It allows me to save on food for the crocodiles, which is one of the greatest expenses that I have,” Sopheap said.
At 44, she has been breeding and farming crocodiles for over 10 years, after the business was handed down to her from her mother.
Located in the village of Prek Toal, Ek Phnom district, Battambang province, the farm has specialized in raising crocodiles since the eggs hatched. Sopheap says she's not afraid of getting close to the animals, because she's been with them from their earliest days.
The farmer said if the price continues to fall, she may stop raising crocodiles as she will no longer be able to afford diets for them.
In the past, Sopheap fed her crocodiles three to four times a month, by giving them huge quantities of fish. But she can now only afford to feed them once or twice a month.
Sopheap spends about $3,000 a year to raise crocodiles. In addition to selling the whole animal, she also sells crocodile eggs.
In Cambodia, crocodiles are primarily used for their skins to make leather products including handbags, shoes, and belts. But their meat is sometimes seen for consumption on market stalls.
Crocodiles are classified as “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
While it is possible to see a few crocodiles in the Mekong River or the Tonle Sap Lake, tourists can go watch crocodiles at various farms and sanctuaries in the Cardamom Mountains, the Koh Kong Crocodile Farm, the Angkor Wildlife & Aquarium in Siem Reap province, or the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre.
Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Rin Ousa for Cambodianess.
