トームさんのインスタグラム写真 - (トームInstagram)「Today we saw 20 or so Crocodiles in #SumideroCanyon, #GrijalvaRiver in #ChiapadeCorzo, #Chiapas #Mexico . This is not the largest. Nor is the giant one that slipped into the water and swam away from the boat. There were larger ones and I missed that money shot of 15 crocs sunbaking on the muddy banks, Jaws agape, but alas... . THESE CROCODILIANS THAT MAKE THEIR home along the winding Grijalva river in the Sumidero Canyon belong to a species called the American crocodile. The aptly named croc can be found all over the Americas, from the coasts of Florida to Mexico, from several islands of the Caribbean to many countries in Central and South America. Yet in spite of this large distribution, the species is endangered in most of these regions due to overhunting, climate change, and habitat destruction. The American crocodile population at Sumidero Canyon in the Mexican state of Chiapas is no exception. In the 19th and 20th centuries, these animals were overhunted almost to the point of local extinction. This overexploitation was driven by the commercial value of their skins, which were then in vogue for items like handbags, boots, belts, and wallets. Today, hunting these crocs is illegal, though they face other threats like pollution. Apart from their ecological role as an apex predator, and being an enormous ecotourism draw, the crocodiles also have a historical value in the region, due to their cultural significance to the ancient pre-Hispanic civilizations. In Mayan mythology, the crocodile played a central role as a symbol of fertility and a character in the creation myth of the universe. According to the sacred text of Chilam Balam, the Earth rested upon the scaly back of a gigantic crocodilian known as Imix, which swam languidly through the cosmic waters of the universe.」10月23日 14時23分