A passionate team of animal conservationists in Cambodia discovered 106 eggs of a rare crocodile species in a wildlife area in western Cambodia, marking the largest find in 20 years. This significant discovery offers renewed hope for the survival of these endangered crocodiles in the wild. The team uncovered the eggs in Cardamom National Park in May, and between June 27 and 30, 60 of them hatched. This information was shared in a joint statement by the agriculture and environment ministries, along with Fauna & Flora, a conservation group dedicated to protecting wildlife. "This find shows that this area is important for wild crocodiles, which makes us hopeful that the species can bounce back," the statement said.

Eggs of a rare Siamese crocodile species hatch in Cardamom National Park in June 2024. (Source: BBC Associated Press)

Rangers from Cardamom National Park Wildlife Sanctuary are looking after the area and the baby reptiles, the statement said. The crocodile type used to be all over Southeast Asia, but now it's in big trouble. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature says they're super close to dying out. By the 1990s, they were almost gone because people hunted them, wrecked their homes, and mixed them with other crocodile types. Cambodia's environment boss, Eang Sophalleth, said his team is trying to save these Crocs and fix up their homes. "These Siamese crocodiles are super important for nature. Finding five nests with 60 eggs that hatched shows Cardamom National Park is a good safe place for these crocs to live," Sophalleth said on Thursday.

Moving From Era Of Extinction Towards Era Of Resilience ~

While we hear lots of stories about animals, plants, and fungi heading towards extinction (or worse, species that are already gone forever), there are good news stories to get excited about too. Around the globe, some species numbers have bounced back to safer levels thanks to the hard work of passionate nature lovers. These experts see bringing back extinct animals as 'making ecosystems richer' or restoring important roles lost when species died out. This idea has an influence on projects to bring back extinct animals: letting these revived creatures loose in the right places has an impact on increasing the variety of life and making ecosystems stronger.