Carlos Alvarado, a 34-year-old Venezuelan biologist, grabbed a young crocodile with one hand and the other with the tail. He armed with tape and calipers, measured the animals and monitored their growth a few days before being released from the wild.

Alvarado's journey - and the Orinoco Crocodile he cared for - proved most of the hope and determination.

The Venezuelan Conservation Foundation Fudeci said there are fewer than 100 Orinoco crocodiles in the wild (one of the largest reptiles in the world). The species' natural habitat includes the Orinoco River Basin, which covers most of Venezuela and extends to Colombia.

For decades, members of the Venezuelan crocodile expert panel have raised the endangered species in captivity, competing with time to prevent it from becoming extinct.

However, they are now worried that they have lost the battle. Once caught on the brink of extinction by poaching leather, Orinoco Crocodiles are now facing a new threat: desperate Venezuelans who hunt animals to eat meat and harvest eggs for food.

Federico Pantin, 59, is not optimistic. He is a director of the Leslie Pantin Zoo in Turmero near Caracas, a facility specializing in endangered species and one of the few places where crocodiles are hatched.

"We're just delaying the extinction of Orinoco," he said.

However, Pan Ting and his colleagues persevered: research, measurement, transportation.

The team documented the nesting sites of the long-lasting Orinoco croco, collecting eggs or hatcheries. They also maintain breeding programs for Masaguaral Ranch and Masaguaral Ranch at the Biodiversity Center and Cattle Farm near Tamalindito in central Venezuela.

Young people are fed chicken, beef and vitamins, reaching about 6 kg (13 lbs) by the time of one year.

Adult Orinocos can be more than 5 meters (16 feet) in length, for decades - a 70-year-old Picopando lives in Masaguaral Ranch.

At the Leslie Pantin Zoo, Omar Hernandez, 63, head of Fudeci, marked the hatched feet. He said preservation of the species will require multiple efforts: research, conservation, education and management.

“We’re doing management, collecting hatcheries, raising them for a year and freeing them,” he said. But “this is actually the only thing to do. And it’s not done on a large scale.”

Every year, the group releases about 200 young crocodiles into the wild.

Hernandez explained that biologists have to wait until the animals reach one year old, which is a critical period in their lives. During this time, “almost everyone was hunted.”

In April, scientists released this year's batch. The young crocodiles and their chins were tied together, placed in crates and transported from the zoo to the Capanaparo River in western Venezuela, with few nearby Colombian borders. This part of the river runs through private land, reducing the risk of hunting animals immediately.

Alvaro Velasco, 66, placed the tape on the teenager's eyes to help him stay calm during transportation.

Velasco, president of the Crocodile Expert Group, said: "People ask me, 'Why do you want crocodiles?' To me, they are fabulous animals. You release them, they stay there, looking at you, as if saying, 'What should I do in this huge river? 'Then they swim. ”

The pickup truck took scientists, crocodiles and volunteers along the muddy track to a camp by the river where the team spent the night in the hammock. The next morning, lift the crocodile gently from the crate and take it to the waterside. The teenager slid into the muddy green river.

"Perhaps many of these animals will be killed tomorrow or the next day after the lack of consciousness among people," Hernandez said. He responded to Pantin's concerns that the Orinoco croco could eventually fail.

But, he added: "We are stubborn. It's a way to delay extinction, and it's what we have to do. If we wait for the perfect environment, they will never come."