Captive Breeding Assistant, Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Programme

Founded in 1903, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is the world’s longest-established international conservation organisation.  Our vision is to create a sustainable future for the planet where biodiversity is conserved by the people living closest to it.  We aim to do this through the conservation of threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take account of human needs. We have become a trusted entity in the world of conservation.  Today FFI is active in over 40 countries.

The Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Programme (CCCP) is a key part of FFI’s long-term strategy in Cambodia to integrate sustainable development with environmental conservation in ways that benefit both people and biodiversity.

In 1992, the IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group declared the Siamese Crocodile to be “effectively extinct in the wild” owing to a devastating combination of habitat loss, hunting, and collection to stock crocodile farms. Eight years later, the rediscovery of Siamese Crocodiles during a joint FFI-Government of Cambodia expedition to the Cardamom Mountains created a stir among both the scientific community and the world’s media. FFI and Forestry Administration promptly developed an integrated multidisciplinary programme to save these crocodiles from intensive, growing threats from poachers and habitat destruction.

Our in situ initiatives to date include field-based research, including studies on: (i) the distribution, status, habitat preferences, diet and reproductive biology of Siamese Crocodiles; (ii) the diversity and status of other reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds and large mammals in key crocodile sites; and (iii) the livelihoods and needs of local communities, especially options to improve their income and food security without jeopardizing the crocodiles or other wildlife. The CCCP has worked effectively with these communities at the three key breeding sites to benefit crocodiles, other wildlife, and their human neighbours.

Evidence from our survey and monitoring work suggests that breeding within the wild population is very limited. Consequently, Siamese crocodiles will not recover naturally. The project has therefore collaborated with government partners and relevant experts to develop the “National Siamese Crocodile Reintroduction and Reinforcement Strategy & Action Plan”, a comprehensive scheme outlining the required steps to implement and manage an effective release programme, from 2012-2031 to augment wild populations.

FFI and our partners are seeking a Captive Breeding Assistant for a major species conservation project in Cambodia. The purpose of this new position is to provide technical assistance to and oversight of the Siamese crocodile Crocodylus siamensis captive breeding programme at Phnom Tamao Zoological Park and Wildlife Rescue Center (PTWRC) near Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Siamese crocodile is one of the world’s most endangered species of crocodilians, with fewer than 250 adults remaining in the wild in Southeast Asia following decades of poaching and habitat loss.  As part of a nationwide initiative to enable the recovery of this species in Cambodia, a captive breeding facility was established by the Government of Cambodia’s Forestry Administration and Fauna & Flora International in 2010 to produce healthy Siamese crocodiles to restock rivers and wetlands in Cambodia. To date, 24 captive-bred crocodiles have been successfully returned to the wild.  The current stock in captivity comprise three adult females, three adult males and four juveniles but this number is expected to increase in 2015, with the addition of Siamese crocodiles donated from crocodile farms and confiscated from illegal traders.

The Captive Breeding Assistant will endeavor to help the PTWRC staff to provide the best possible standards of crocodile husbandry. The successful candidate will be based in Phnom Tamao with trips to the city of Phnom Penh (50 km), crocodile farms and remote field sites as needed. PTWRC is a green and very spacious zoological garden, situated in a protected forest that covers 2,285 hectares (http://phnomtamaozoo.com/).

This will be an excellent experience for anyone interested in taking an active part in an exciting and important reptile recovery project.

For further details and to apply please visit: http://www.fauna-flora.org/about/jobs/

The closing date for applications is  28 December 2015.  No agencies please.

FFI values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity