Crocodiles of the World News from Crocodiles Of The World

Although I agree that it is great to see zoos taking on the investment of a range of crocodiles I would have to say that Crocs of the World is not the most aesthetic zoo I've visited. The exhibits are based inside barely-modified farm barns and are pretty samey (concrete ponds with a woodchip substrate) with very little attention to landscaping (no planting within most croc exhibits). Obviously doesn't help that crocodilians are pretty similar looking beasts either (I personally appreciated the different species, but the casual visitor...). I understand that they have added some non-crocs since my visit early in 2015. Also not too sure how much expansion they can do as the site looked pretty much full.

 

They have more than enough space to expand to over 3 times its current size,and still have room for a car park capable of handling around 500 cars.

 

A picture on their Facebook page show the young of 6 crocodilian species bred in 2015 . I am aware of American alligator , Siamese and African dwarf crocodile . What were the other 3 species ?

Some of the baby American alligators have been introduced to their parent's enclosure where they are doing well .

 

They have also bred Cuviers Dwarf Caiman,now the other 2 have me stumped as most of the other species are in single sex groups or single animals,the only other possible species I think could be the Chinese Alligators and Smooth-fronted Caiman.

Have just realised it could also be the False Gharial,that were suppose to have been at RSCC but never were,as they were housed at COTW from day one of them arriving in the UK!!

 

Thanks ZG , check the photo on COTW Facebook , see if you can identify them . I was surprised at 6 species .

 

One of the other 2 is Spectacled Caiman. Can't think what the last one is?

 

But surely Cuvier's dwarf Caiman, Dwarf crocodile, American & Chinese Alligators all have dark blotches on their lower jaw as hatchlings? I only see 3 crocodilians with marked jaws in the photograph.
Short-snouted baby in the middle left really does look like a spectacled...

 

Completely baseless speculation, but your own post offers a solution..!

 

After some pondering and image comparing, I tentatively put forward this line-up:
On left (from top): American Alligator, Spectacled Caiman, Chinese Alligator
On right (from top): Siamese Crocodile, possibly freshwater crocodile, Dwarf Crocodile

 

The only alterations i'd make to this are swapping the Cuvier's and the Dwarf Crocodile- the eye on the bottom right individual is just not the right colour to be a Cuvier's.

 

Could the other Crocodylus be Morelet's, rather than Australian freshwater?

 

Doubt it as the animals held at the place are female!

 

Parthenogenesis?
Seriously, there is still a question about the sixth species, as the Australian freshwater crocs were hatched in Frankfurt and came to the UK as babies.

 

They are certainly bigger than any of the ones in the UK,until I see the male for myself I will reserve judgement on if he is bigger,than the male that is now at Leipzig that used to be at Tierpark Berlin.But it is excellent news that at last people in the UK can see a proper Thomistoma!!

 

Nice.

Any idea where they arrived from originally (source(s))?

What size are they?

 

How do they compare in size to chester's never really took much notice of them before tbh but I thought chesters seemed impressive.