Reptile & Amphibian Forums

CAYMANIAN COMPASS (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) 08 January 07 Croc awaits repatriation (Cliodhna McGowan)
Plans are afoot to send the crocodile that was captured in Cayman waters over the holiday period back to where it comes from.
Finding out exactly where that is will be the first step in the process.
The 7.5– to eight–foot American Crocodile was captured in Old Man Bay on 30 December following many calls from the public to the 911 Emergency Communications Centre reporting a sighting.
The reptile is now recovering at Boatswain’s Beach from a spear gun wound inflicted during the capture.
“We believe it is in the animal’s best interests to repatriate it to its native population where it comes from,” said Director of the Department of Environment Gina Ebanks–Petrie at a special press conference at Boatswain’s Beach Friday afternoon.
“We are not certain of the origin of the animal but given the water conditions and the geographic closeness of Cuba we think it’s the most likely source of the animal,” she said.
In order to confirm this the Department of Agriculture took blood samples and the DoE has made contact with two separate groups overseas, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Texas State University, which are willing to do genetic analysis to determine the population of origin.
“We are looking at that information basically to look at repatriating the animal to its original population,” Ms Ebanks–Petrie said. “That is our primary goal.”
A lot of work has still to be done with regard to the practicalities of shipping the blood samples, which requires CITES permits, and these practical arrangements are being made. The timeframe for obtaining the results is still unknown, she said.
Ms Ebanks–Petrie added that it is not certain how definite the results of the tests of where the crocodile comes from will be, but the primary goal is to get it back to where it came from.
Wild populations of these animals occur in the South Eastern US, Cuba, Jamaica, Central and South America. This type of crocodile can grow up to 20 feet, although that length is very rare, Ms Ebanks–Petrie said.
The American crocodile is not aggressive by nature. The Cuban crocodile is much more aggressive, she said.
Ms Ebanks–Petrie noted that it is not absolutely certain that the crocodile swam here, for instance, she said, it could have come off a boat that was passing by.
However, crocodiles have been occasional visitors to Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands in the past, with the last sighting in the 1950s.
Department of Agriculture spokesman Brian Crichlow said the main concern is the welfare of the animal.
The animal remains under veterinary care at Boatswain’s Beach under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture. The reptile has been responding very well to veterinary treatment, said Mr. Crichlow.
The Department of Agriculture will work with Boatswain’s Beach to modify the housing of the animal and to minimize stress for it and minimize its contact with people so it can be returned to the wild.
For this reason also, the crocodile has not been officially named.
The crocodile is being housed in an outdoor pen in the working turtle farm area of Boatswain’s Beach, which is closed to the public, but which allows veterinarians easy access to the reptile.
The housing situation is temporary, because as it needs less and less veterinary assistance it will be screened off to limit its exposure to humans.
Following a question from the Caymanian Compass, Ms Ebanks–Petrie said the DoA and DoE agreed on Friday morning that all involved agencies, including Boatswain’s Beach and the police, need to get together and agree that if such a sighting happens again all agencies are contacted with a discussion on how to proceed before any action is taken.
Ms Ebanks Petrie said it is important that the public understands that in the Cayman Islands at the moment there is no legislation that allows protection to these animals in the wild.
“This is something that would be offered by our new conservation legislation and so it’s another reason why we need it,” she said.
“Our Animals Law is the local legislation we currently operate under for animal protection and welfare. It was passed in 1976 and is extremely outdated,” she said. Animals given protection under this law are non–domestic birds and iguanas.
Both Mr. Crichlow and Ms Ebanks Petrie said they were very grateful to Boatswain’s Beach for housing the animal.
If anyone believes they have sighted another crocodile they should call the Department of Environment at 949 8469.
Croc awaits repatriation

CAYMANIAN COMPASS (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) 07 January 07 Smarter? Man or beast (Gregory S. McTaggart)
WOW! A crocodile captured in the Cayman Islands.
That’s really something.
I’d never heard of crocs, gators, caimans or any other slimy aquatic reptiles having been seen here in recent memory.
Crocs did once inhabit these Islands as evidenced by bones and fossils unearthed and now displayed at the National Trust House. In addition, some records of the earliest Old World visitors to Grand Cayman report terrible lizards lurking in the swamps, lagoons and coastal waters.
In fact some scholars speculate that the Cayman Islands may have gotten their name from the numerous crocodiles or caimans (obviously from a chart maker who couldn’t spell very well) that once thrived here. So it wasn’t all that long ago that this place was their home.
The first settlers to the Islands probably had the good sense to mercilessly hunt the beasts to extinction. That is why, up until now, we have been croc free, and why Steve Irwin never had reason to pay us a visit prior to his untimely death; which serves as a stark example that even those wild animals we may consider the most benign, not just species with large, visible, razor sharp teeth and gaping maw big enough to devour the family pet like a cocktail shrimp, can be lethal.
So, of course, the proper, rational and completely reasonable reaction to the sudden appearance here of a fearsome man–eater like a croc is, of course, panic, hysteria and mobilization of the police force to hunt it down and, of course, kill it.
Mysteriously however the Police chose to try to capture the menace with kill kept as Plan B.
Apparently there was no consideration of a Plan C, that is, let the confused animal wander off on its own, as the authorities feared it was a danger to the general public. Applying this same logic, perhaps the authorities should hunt down some North Sound boat trip operators as, by my count, they have been far more dangerous and down right deadly to the general public recently as opposed to wildlife.
Now, I first heard reports of the croc sighting on Thursday, 28 December. By the following Saturday the hideous devil had been captured. An astounding accomplishment given the fact that it took six months to track down the last CNB bank robbery suspect whose mental abilities and clever allusiveness, in comparison to the croc which has the cognitive functions of a peanut butter sandwich, are far more limited.
During the capture operation, cooler heads prevailed when a member of the public took matters into his own hands and shot the odious creature with a spear gun, which I think is an excellent capture method that the police should consider employing when apprehending dirt–bag criminals too.
Dispatching a croc however is about as easy as killing a truck tyre and since it probably isn’t safe to keep the wounded animal at the George Town lockup, after all, the murderous felons there might further harm the poor thing, it was sent to the Turtle Farm.
The Turtle Farm staff determined that the vile monster is probably a female and have named her Daisy. Daisy is recovering from her capture and it is unclear what the future holds for her.
It’s far more certain however what is likely in store for Daisy’s species–and it’s not all that encouraging. The American crocodile is listed as endangered in the United States with only 400 to 1,200 individuals left in extreme South Florida. Worldwide there are probably 10,000 to 20,000 and again are protected in most places they are still found. But poaching for hides continues and habitat destruction is pushing these animals to extinction.
Mr. Geddes Hislop of the Turtle Farm speculates that had Daisy not been captured she probably would not have lasted as long around here as Rosie O’Donnell on the season premier of The Apprentice. Someone would have killed her.
It is said that saurians like the croc are living fossils that haven’t changed in 65 million years. Homo sapiens on the other hand have only been around about 200,000 years. Given our dubious track record of stewardship of planet Earth and more specifically our own Cayman Islands and its bounty of God–given creatures, I wonder; which has evolved further?
Smarter? Man or beastvv