Caiman latirostris was depleted by hide hunting through the twentieth century, particularly in Argentina and southern Brazil. Recovery there has been organised around ranching, a use-based model distinct from farming closed captive populations.
In the Argentine programme, licensed collectors locate wild nests and harvest eggs, which are incubated and reared in facilities. A set proportion of the reared animals, typically several per cent of those hatched, is released back into the wetland where the eggs were taken, and the rest enter the skin and meat trade. The arithmetic depends on the fact that hatchling and egg mortality in the wild is severe, so a modest return rate can still exceed unaided recruitment.
The model gives landowners a reason to keep wetlands intact, and the species is now assessed as Least Concern. It also depends on continuous monitoring and honest reporting of harvest and release rates. Whether such schemes stay beneficial when enforcement weakens is a fair open question.