Crocodylus mindorensis is endemic to the Philippines and was thought nearly gone from Luzon until a small population was located in creeks near San Mariano, Isabela, at the turn of the century. The animals were living in shallow agricultural waterways rather than remote wilderness.
That setting shaped the response. Rather than fencing off habitat, conservation workers negotiated municipal ordinances and community sanctuaries, combined with head-starting, in which hatchlings are reared to a size at which survival improves and then released. Local support has been essential because the crocodiles share water with people, buffalo and rice fields, and the species is small enough to pose limited risk.
The species remains Critically Endangered. The IUCN assessment puts the wild population at roughly 92 to 137 mature individuals, fragmented between sites in Luzon and Mindanao. The main threats are killing, dynamite and electro-fishing, and conversion of small wetlands. Estimates vary between surveys and the Mindanao populations are poorly counted.