Thick-skinned protection: U.S. conservation policies punish rescuers of endangered species - Travel Intelligence

Latin Trade, April, 2002 by Luis Romo-Cedano

Like many other businessmen in northwestern Mexico, Carlos Rodarte is a rancher His spread sits amidst irrigated tomato fields and poultry farms some 15 kilometers south of Culiacan and depends on a herd 25,000 strong. What's different about this operation, however, is the livestock he manages: crocodiles.

Working under the name Cocodrilos Mexicanos, or Cocomex for short, this ranch plays home to an atypical business in this flat region best known for farming, beautiful women and drug trafficking. Hidden by groves of trees, the sounds emanating from the ranch suggest this is no ordinary hacienda as loudspeakers pump out radio music all day long. Explaining that reptiles are happier when they have constant sound, ranch officials favor Latin rhythms. That preference raises the specter of crocodiles lolling on pools of water while listening to Cuban son played by the Buenavista Social Club.

Cocomex became part of the Sinaloa State landscape just more than 12 years ago, after a trip to Thailand sold Rodarte on the idea of taking crocodile farming to his home country. The ranch, which sells crocodile hides, recently broke even, explains Rodarte, an architect by vocation and a reptile rancher by avocation. He declined to give sales figures.

Cocomex currently works with a Mexican crocodile species, moreletii, which finds its natural habitat on the Atlantic coast of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. At the ranch, a select group of reptiles--about 1,000--are relegated to four large pools dedicated to breeding. The eggs laid by the females in mid-spring are taken to an incubator. When the lizard-sized baby crocodiles break from their shells, they're transported to any of 60 dark and humid huts where they live and grow for two years.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the wild moreletii crocodile population suffered a steady decline owing to poaching, pollution and the destruction of its habitat. In an unusual twist, the ranching of crocodiles has actually guided the species away from the danger of extinction. At the Cocomex ranch, there are now more farmed crocodiles in a 10-hectare area than there are wild moreletii scattered along the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean combined.

Ironically, however, the same crocodile dearth that prompted the protective ranch approach has also made commercialization of crocodile hides difficult. When Rodarte attempted to launch Cocomex, the then-Mexican environmental protection agency, Sedue, stonewalled. Fearing such farms would spark underground crocodile hunting, officials dragged their heels for months before granting the farm a concession for 370 reptiles.

After a dozen years, the growth has been tremendous. From the 100 crocodiles born in 1989, last year the ranch saw the births of 8,500 crocodiles; the operation employs 17. Rodarte says the ranch sells 4,000 hides annually, principally to Japan, with occasional sales to France, Italy, Germany and Spain.

Mexico is also an important market, especially for a peculiar cut known as corte hornback especial, which is used in the manufacture of exotic boots. The popularity springs from Mexicans' general fascination with boots. Even President Vicente Fox wears boots, recently debuting a pair of patent leather ones on a trip to Europe. While cow skin is the traditional medium for footwear, Mexicans are increasingly drawn to more exotic hides, including ostrich skin. Crocodile boots have grabbed attention although they remain expensive for most Mexicans.

Looking ahead. With stability under its belt, Cocomex is seeking to diversify. "We don't want to commercialize our hides as a primary product," Rodarte explains. Instead, the company is focusing on processing and selling finished products. To that end, it already boasts its own boot brand, Crocoboots, available in Mexico. And it is working on a line of handbags, wallets and belts to be sold under the Cocole name. To introduce the line, the company contracted Italian fashion designer Fulvio Bilanceri, who has worked for Gucci.

Rodarte may have won over support in his home country, but the expansion push is getting a cold shoulder from the United States, where environmental protection laws have blocked the sale of Cocomex hides. "We can sell to any country in the world except the United States," Rodarte complains. The reason for the ban? Moreletii appears on the U.S. Endangered Species Act list and exceptions are not granted for farmed animals, even though farming in this case has effectively reversed the demise of the crocodile population.

Rodarte sees the restriction as an unfair measure designed to help U.S. hide companies. "There's an impressive level of protectionism," he says. However, Charles Myers, president of trade group Leather Industries of America says only alligator is commercialized in the United States and that endangered species concerns run independent of the industry.

"The problem is identifying whether the species is farmed or poached," says Myers, adding that it is difficult to double check the claims. "For them to get exported to this country, there is very, very strict compliance."