Nile Crocodiles discovered far from home

While all sea reptiles pose a certain fear and threat to humans, from snakes to alligators, none are more dangerous statistically than the Nile crocodile, which is responsible for 200 human deaths annually. The sub-Saharan native animal can grow up to 21 feet long and weigh up to one half tons. And it eats anything. Even humans. They are native, as one can assume from their name, to the Nile River and unless carefully kept in a zoo, you wouldn’t naturally find them all the way across the Atlantic in humid Florida.

That is, until now.

Four have been found so far in the southern State, but thankfully for the people who stumbled on them, none were that large. One was just a small hatchling about a foot long (33 cm) on a porch in Miami and another yet was on a private zoo in Homestead, Fla. The third one was a 10-pound female and captured in a public park, also in Homestead. The largest one was captured two years ago, and had grown to be five and half feet long.

Image via npr

Kenneth L. Kyrsko, an author of the study that describes the animals, said that there is no indication that the crocodiles were reproducing.

However they are still in Florida, and according to Krysko, “this is not a good thing.” They were most likely introduced by an illegal owner who then couldn’t keep the animals. One of the biggest fears is that the Nile Croc could interbreed with local species, thereby creating a super strong (and super hungry) sub-species that would no doubt wreck havoc on the native species.

 

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