There’s a new trade in Jamaica in something illicit, something green, but it’s not what you might think.  Conservationists are worried because some serious misinformation has people eating Crocodile meat.

“I went from never hearing about anyone eating crocodile meat, much less crocodile eggs, to hearing about it all the time. There's just so much carnage going on,” said reptile specialist Byron Wilson of the University of the West Indies.

The Crocodile Special Group says the animals are supposed to be protected, but the situation is dire partially because of a “new demand for crocodile meat, both for personal consumption and for local market distribution.”  It seems some men think that eating crocodile enhances sexual virility. 

Croc meat is fetching as much as US$35 per pound on the new underground market, creating an incentive for poachers on an island with a 16.3 percent unemployment rate.

It’s gotten so bad that reptile conservationist Lawrence Henriques has set up a crocodile sanctuary and captive rearing program on the north side of Jamaica, far from the crocs’ southern habitat. 

“It's very worrying that so many people just have no regard for the laws protecting these animals,” Henriques said.