Idea #346 – Observing the black caiman of Guiana
The black Caiman, called Melanosuchus Niger, is the biggest American Crocodilia, and can reach 6 to 7 m for 1100 kg, with an average from 3 to 4 meters. He can be dangerous for man. The black caiman has an osseous fish bone over the red eyes, and a black skin. It uses the tint of its skin to disguise during its night-hunting, but can also help it to absorb the heat.
The black caimans eat fishes, including piranhas, catfishes, and other animals, as birds or tortoises. This reptile meets in several countries of the Amazonian rain forest, in Bolivia, in Brazil, in Colombia, in Ecuador, in Guiana, in Guyana, in Peru and in Venezuela; it was hunted to the edge of the extinction mainly for the skin. Its survival depends now strongly on its protection. We observed it in the moor of Kaw in Guiana, in the middle of other specie of caimans.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Kaw Moor, Guiana, France
