The AP says the crocs, a species whose adult males can grow to 16 feet and weigh up to 1,600 pounds, were very likely “brought to Florida illegally by an unlicensed reptile collector who either didn’t contain them properly, allowing them to escape, or, more sinisterly, planted them in the Everglades in hopes they would multiply”. The reptiles can grow up to 20ft (6 meters) long, weigh as much as a small vehicle and have a reputation for being ferocious man-eaters, with an estimated 200 people a year meeting their demise in the jaws of a Nile crocodile. In an article the UF researchers published about their findings, the crocodiles were found in 2009, 2011, and most recently in 2014.
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If the man-eating Nile crocodile ever becomes established in the Everglades, the University of Florida team warns that it will pose an invasive threat to the ecosystem through crossbreeding, pushing out the less aggressive American crocodiles. Researchers are now warning that there might be more Nile crocodiles hiding around the state.
“They didn’t swim from Africa”, said Kenneth Krysko, who studies reptiles and amphibians at the University of Florida.
Researchers with the University of Florida just published a troubling report confirming that three Nile crocodiles have been captured in the Everglades since 2009.
We know their behavior in their native range, and there is no reason to suggest that would change here in Florida.
Scientists have confirmed Florida’s latest invasive species is a type of man-eating crocodile from Africa.
Krysko says that the DNA obtained from these captured Nile crocs matched each other however it did not match with those inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom or other zoo and research facilities where Nile crocs are kept legally in Florida.
The Nile crocodile is native to mainly sub-Saharan Africa.
Researchers believe the crocodiles’ most likely point of entry into the ecosystem is through Florida’s large worldwide pet trade.
Using DNA analysis, scientists have confirmed the capture of Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) in South Florida.
The Nile crocodile Joe Wasilewski found in Homestead, Florida.
Now that biologists have confirmed that the crocodiles found in Florida’s swamps are Nile crocodiles, one big question remains: Are there more?
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) Step aside, Burmese python you may no longer be Florida’s scariest invasive species.
The first, a hatchling, was found on a front porch and sent to a Louisiana reptile exhibit. The second 4-foot-long animal was caught at a park. The female was recaptured and killed two years later about 18 miles away in the Everglades National Park. But the Nile crocodile may be the most dramatic.
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They are predators and eat a wide variety of prey.
