Decades of poaching for leather pushed the Orinoco crocodile to the brink, and now struggling Venezuelans who hunt the animals for meat and take their eggs for food threaten to deal the final blow.

Related: Fossil of massive crocodile found on edge of Sahara desert The Orinoco crocodile population plummeted in the latter part of the 20th century, mostly due to commercial hunting for its skin.

Hunted into near-extinction during the last century for their prized, scaly hides, hope for Venezuela’s fading Orinoco crocodile may lie in three hatchlings the Newport Aquarium recently ...

Decades of poaching for leather pushed the Orinoco crocodile to the brink, and now struggling Venezuelans who hunt the animals for meat and take their eggs for food threaten to deal the final blow.

It's estimated there are now as few as 1,500 left in the wild. Visitors to the aquarium will have one more week to see the crocodiles and wish them well as they head to South America.

While millions of the crocodiles could previously be found in South America’s Orinoco River, the aquarium says as few as 1,500 now remain in the wild.

Recognizing the critical status of the species, herpetologist Federico Medem established a captive breeding program for the Orinoco crocodile in 1971 at the Roberto Franco Tropical Biological Station ...

The Orinoco crocodile, or Crocodylus intermedius, was pushed to the brink of extinction in the first half of the 20th century due to the hunting of its prized skin. Over 2.5 million skins were ...

Eggs from an endangered Venezuelan Orinoco River crocodile began hatching. Zoo officials said that on February 5th, the croc laid 45 eggs in a carefully excavated nest located in an off-exhibit ...

NEWPORT, Ky. — The Newport Aquarium's Gator Ally is holding an opening weekend this weekend which includes three new Orinoco crocodile babies, and some of the rarest and most endangered reptiles ...

Decades of poaching for leather pushed the Orinoco crocodile to the brink, and now struggling Venezuelans who hunt the animals for meat and take their eggs for food threaten to deal the final blow.

Decades of poaching for leather pushed the Orinoco crocodile to the brink, and now struggling Venezuelans who hunt the animals for meat and take their eggs for food threaten to deal the final blow.