CITES-licensed businesses in Ho Chi Minh City exported 9,900 live crocodiles in the first eight months of 2008, tripling the figure of the same period last year, according to the city’s Department of Forest Rangers.

The businesses also shipped abroad 11,000 sets of crocodile skin in the period, earning a total of US$3 million.

Major markets for crocodile export were Japan, Singapore, France, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and China.

Apart from skin, crocodile fillet and dried meat are also available for foreign and domestic consumption. Some local shops have been opened to sell souvenirs made from crocodile skin, claws and teeth.

Ho Chi Minh City currently has four businesses licensed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to export crocodiles. (VNA)