Crocodylus moreletii was hunted intensively for its hide from the 1940s onward. Its belly skin, like that of other crocodiles with limited belly ossification, tans well, and the species was pursued to the point that it was considered commercially extinct across much of its range by the early 1970s.
Protection followed. The species was placed on CITES Appendix I, national hunting bans were introduced in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, and populations recovered over subsequent decades. Mexican and Belizean populations were transferred to Appendix II in 2010 and 2012 respectively, and the IUCN assessment is now Least Concern. The United States removed it from its endangered species list in 2012.
Two caveats matter. Morelet's crocodile hybridises with the American crocodile where their ranges meet, particularly in Belize, so genetic identity is not neatly bounded. And recovery has not undone habitat loss: coastal wetland drainage and pollution continue, and downlisting reflects population trend rather than a secure future.