Posted on 05/20/2016 2:01:53 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Florida can now add man-eating crocs to its growing list of invasive species. Researchers from the University of Florida have confirmed that three Nile crocodiles were captured near Miami, and there may be more out there in the wild.
University of Florida herpetologist Kenneth Krysko and his co-authors recently published a paper revealing that DNA testing from three crocs captured in 2009, 2011 and 2014 proves they are Nile crocodiles, a species native to sub-Saharan Africa and parts of the southern Mediterranean coast that can grow over 16 feet long and weigh more than 1,600 pounds.
It’s also known to prey upon humans, among other animals. Researchers estimate that Nile crocs kill up to 200 people each year worldwide.
DNA testing showed the captured reptiles matched genetically, but they didn’t match the Nile crocodiles kept at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and other licensed attractions in Florida, which suggests these killer crocs were likely brought to the Sunshine State illegally. All three were captured in South Florida, with one found in the Everglades National Park, confirming that the non-native species can thrive in the Florida wetlands and perhaps beyond.
“Much of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts could provide similar climatic conditions,” Kyrsko and his co-authors wrote in the paper.
Florida has two native crocodilians: the American alligator and American crocodile. But four non-native species have been introduced to the southeast state since 1960, researchers said. There are a number of other dangerous invasive species spreading through southern Florida, such as the Burmese python.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
:^)
Maybe they will keep the invasive piranha in check.
I used to be a man eating alligator in Florida. I’ll probably do it again.
Refresh my memory,but don’t crocs grow to ridiculous sizes, like the one feeding on the corpses of the victims clogging the waterways during the war in Rwanda? If I recall, the name of the croc was Gustav? He developed a taste for human flesh. Might be wrong, though.
At least aligators are cute.
Fried crocks are mighty good eats.
“Cute” is not a word that pops immediately into my mind when looking at a gator...
Puppies, yes. Puppies are cute. Especially Lab, Golden, or Beagle pups. Heartachingly cute.
But Gators... not so much.
I see them and I think... “Hmmm... Belt. Boots... Wallet...”
:^)
When I was in Australia with my late-wife, we went to a wild game restaurant and I had a crock-tail steak. Utterly delicious ... almost two inches thick, medium-rare, almost melted in my mouth without chewing.
“I’ve eaten fried gator (very good) at Stan’s in Goodland if that counts.”
Tastes like chicken?
More like rattlesnake, very chewy.
Taste like spotted owl.
I hear those suckers are real mean SOBs.
Will they eat up the pythons who are cleaning out the other wild life? Maybe if they do, then we can clean them out.
That's good.
Genetically humanitarian too, not just 'identifying as' like their human counterparts.
No kidding?
I haven't heard much of anything about pirhanas (the dangerous ones) becoming established down in Florida. There are close relatives of pirhanas that closely resemble them but are plant eaters, the Pacu.
Some years ago I had a 125 gallon tank with a bunch of the dangerous pirhanas and they grew big enough to be keepers if I'd caught them fishing. In the wild, they'd grow much bigger I'm sure and form dangerous swarms. The gators and the crocs have more to fear from pirhanas than the other way around.
Yep. Pirahna.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Palm-Beach-Pond-Has-a-Pirahna-Problem-70294052.html
Wow.
Yes.
Because I know of the devastation the pythons have caused.
Some of the damage is probably not recoverable, like a species of deer gone.
If there really are Crock there they will devastate the pythons.
They are what keep pythons in check in Africa.
And like snakes crocks never stop growing, with no natural enemies in the glades they are going to get mighty big.
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