Ocean and Rivers

Chinese alligators survive in a small, fragmented part of the lower Yangtze region. Recovery depends on protected wetlands, careful release programmes and long-term monitoring.

The New Guinea freshwater crocodile uses swamps, lakes, marshes and rivers in northern New Guinea. It should be distinguished from saltwater crocodiles and observed only from a safe distance.

False gharials live in peat swamps and slow blackwater rivers in Sumatra. Wetland loss and entanglement in fishing gear threaten the species.

The Fitzroy River turtle is endemic to central Queensland’s Fitzroy drainage. Cloacal respiration helps it remain underwater, but clean, oxygen-rich flowing water remains necessary.

Cuvier’s dwarf caiman occurs across Amazon and Orinoco drainages, using forest streams, swamps, flooded forest and ponds. It is not limited to Orinoco floodplains.

Goliath frogs live beside fast-flowing rainforest streams in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Hunting, forest loss, sedimentation and stream disturbance threaten this Endangered amphibian.

Pig-nosed turtles inhabit rivers and wetlands of New Guinea and northern Australia. Egg harvest, collection and habitat change threaten populations.

Anacondas occupy rivers, wetlands and flooded forests across tropical South America. Their ecology varies by species, habitat and seasonal water levels.

Nile monitors use rivers, wetlands and shorelines across much of sub-Saharan Africa. Diet, habitat use and conflict vary by location.

Asian water monitors use wetlands, rivers and human-modified habitats in the Mekong region. Their presence alone is not a direct measure of pollution.