reported in 2011 to live in La Palmita at the Cojedes River, but any details of this attack (including when exactly it happened) are lacking. Reproduction When water recedes in the dry season, Orinoco crocodiles retreat to burrows they excavate into the riverbanks. The adult pair mates during the drier period of the year. Adult males attract the females by roaring. The females often outnumber the males two to one and appear to select the males with the deepest roars. In a reintroduced population, only 6 of 14 potential adult males parented over 90% of eggs laid. Usually 14 weeks after mating, the female crocodile will dig a nest and lay about 40 eggs. It is a hole-nester, as are all crocodilians, and it usually makes its nest on a sand bank. The eggs incubate under a mixture of soil and rotting vegetation for around three months. The most common predator of buried eggs are tegu lizards although the tegus are sometimes caught and killed by the mother crocodile. During the night the young hatch and call to their mother; she digs them out of the nest and carries them to the water, which is considerably higher at this point. Young Orinoco crocodiles are often at risk from predation by American black vultures, tegu lizards, anacondas, caimans, coatis, jaguars, and other carnivores, though these species are sometimes also caught and killed by the defending mother crocodile. Adults have no predators except for humans. Females have defended pods of juveniles for over three years, though closer to one year to independence is generally most common. A study of captive Orinoco crocodiles noted the aggressive behavior of adults while nesting and noted that the normally relatively docile crocodilians could not be approached while they were actively brooding. Without persecution, it is possible that Orinoco crocodiles may reach a lifespan of 70–80 years. Conservation status The Orinoco crocodile is highly endangered due to excessive hunting for its hide. During the 1940s to the 1960s, thousands of these animals were slaughtered in the Orinoco River and the Llanos wetlands, and the species came very close to extinction. The Orinoco crocodile was given protected status in the 1970s, but has yet to recover. Today, it is protected both in Colombia and Venezuela, and also included on Appendix I by CITES. In addition to hunting for its hide, more recent threats include the collection of juveniles