Alligator Attack

An 11-year old girl in Brazil was killed by a crocodilian. Several news reports call it an alligator, which of course, is incorrect. (No gators in Brazil.) The reported length (15 feet) would make it a black caiman. (News source, and here.)

Crocs in the News

Bangladesh's only crocodile farm will be sending its first export to Germany next month. (News source.)

A UK aquarium is training its dwarf caiman to respond to commands. (News source.)

A UK man wants to start his own crocodile park. (News source.)

Crocodilians in the News

35 pure Siamese crocodiles were found among a larger group of rescued crocs in Cambodia. These will be used to help in the conservation of this endangered species. (News source.)

A profile here on a Namibian man attacked by a large crocodile.

A Florida man stuck his hands under a car, thinking his dog was under it, and got bit by an alligator. (News source.)

Croc with Armor

A very strange fossil crocodilian has been discovered in Brazil, with armadillo-like body armor. (News source.)

OOP Crocs

Two small crocodilians were reported from a pond near a Ukrainian oil refinery plant. (News source.)

Tracks on a Brevard County, FL, beach indicate an alligator or croc; saltwater-forays by gators are unusual. (News source.)

Out of Place Crocodilians

A village pond in France is being drained to catch the "crocodile" said to be lurking there. (News source.)

A baby gator was caught in Trumbull Lake, in Connecticut, probably dumped due to the restrictive regulations there. (News source.)

A small alligator was seen in an Indiana lake. (News source.)

Caiman Attack

We see lots of reports of crocs and gators attacking people; here is news of a woman attacked by a caiman, in Trinidad, bitten on the foot and hand. (News source.)

Stupid Reptile Laws are Still the Law...

Officials in Milwaukee confiscated a city resident's apparently well-kept collection of boids, monitors, turtles, and a "crocodile." (Not sure if that's an actual croc, or is a gator or caiman.) (News source, and here.)

Gharial Study

Gharials are being radio-tagged in Nepal for study. (News source.)

North Carolina Regs

NC may be tightening regulations for keeping crocodilians and certain large constrictors. (News source.)

Fossil Tusked Croc

A "boar-croc" has been discovered in the Sahara, as yet undescribed officially.

"Boar-croc doesn't fit in any known order. It has a crocodile-like snout, but adds horns and three sets of canine teeth like those of a wild pig adapted for eating meat." (News source.)

Caymans Croc (Again)

Another small crocodilian has been caught in the Cayman Islands. (News source.)

8-Foot Croc in Massachusetts?

Sounds fishy. Police responded to a sighting of an 8-foot crocodilian swimming in Fiske Pond near Natick, MA. (News source.)

Herp Legal News

13 geckos were stolen from a North Carolina man's house. Two have been returned, and four people have been arrested. (News source.)

A former Connecticut man is suing police over a $35 fine given (through alleged illegal entry to his home), where they apparently found a 6-7 foot crocodilian or lizard in a tub. The reptile is unidentified (and disappeared after they initially saw it). Probably was just a big monitor. (News source.)

Gharial Problem

Reintroduction of new gharials to the Chambal is on hold, until biologists can adequately determine why the species is dying off there. (News source.)

Fossil Croc

Another giant species of fossil gavial-like crocodilian has been discovered in South America. (News source.)

Crocs in the News

A Malaysian man was killed by a crocodile on a tributary of the Batang Lupar. (News source.)

In India, a gharial was hatched out with a significant defect: no tail. The article speculates that it may be linked to a suspected toxin responsible for the recent gharial deaths. (News source.)

OOP Croc in Germany

Berlin city workers spotted a 2 1/2 foot crocodilian in the Innerste River. One of the employees was a reptile enthusiast, so the i.d. isn't doubted. (News source.)

OOP Crocodilian?

A small crocodilian was reported from Lake Hickory, NC. Gators aren't known from that part of the state, so it may be a released pet, possibly a caiman. (News source.)

Gharial Breeding

The Prague Zoo is starting a breeding program for gharial, the first in Europe. (News source.)

Gharials Nesting

Gharial nests have been found in Chambal's sanctuary, so there's (some) hope for the species... (News source.)

Crocodilian Poaching

A news report out of Brazil says that 740 "alligator" corpses were found slaughtered in a nature reserve in the Amazon. (Alligators aren't found in Brazil, so they're either crocodiles or, more likely, caiman.) The reptiles had been skinned and salted, stashed away to later be sold for meat. Officials incinerated the bodies. The poachers weren't caught. (News source.)

Norway Caiman Returned

The dwarf caiman stolen from a Norwegian aquarium was returned; the thief was a reptile enthusiast (part of this site, it looks like) who claimed the animal was kept in poor conditions. (News source.)

Dwarf Croc Stolen

A Norway aquarium lost its dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus trigonatus) to thieves. (News source.)

They're offering an approx. $4900 reward for a reptile they claim is worth about $2000 on the legal market. (Not sure where they get that info, as they're sold for about $300 or so here in the US...)

Investigation Continues

The gharial deaths in India are still a mystery, though the colder weather recently may have helped abate the problem a little bit. (News source.)

Fish Poisoning Gharials?

A crocodile expert suggests that toxins accumulating in the skin of tilapia are poisoning India's gharials. (News source.)

Crocodopolis: World Record Crocs

The online magazine, Crocodopolis, has announced the Crocodilian World Records Project, with the first phase focusing on record alligators. For details, go here.

Gharial Investigation Continues

Live gharials are been captured and tested to acquire baseline data, so that researchers can figure out what's killing the species in India. (News source.)

"Post mortem analysis of dead Gharials found ulcerated lesions in the stomach and some inflammation in the intestine. Absence of external injuries rules out accidental death or poaching. Toxicological and pathological examination of the organs of the dead gharials by the IVRI, Bareilly, and ITRC, Lucknow found lead concentrations between 0.7-1.4 ppm. Liver and kidney tissues indicate degenerative changes. Presence of various stages of protozoan parasite was also detected. Autopsies conducted on 4 dead gharials on 27th January, 2008 revealed significant gout – both visceral and articulate. Even the feet and tail joints had uric acid deposits. Gout is indicative of kidney failure as a result of toxic poisoning or disease. However, the gharials seemed in good health condition with fat deposits."

Kin to Crocs

Brazilian paleontologists have described a new 5 1/2 foot terrestrial crocodilian in the fossil record. "The long-limbed and extremely agile animal, dubbed Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi, roamed arid and hot terrain that is now Brazilian countryside." (News source.)

Gharial Deaths Continue

The Indian gharial epidemic continues, with over 100 dying on the Chambal river in the last 6 weeks. The cause is still unknown, but lead traces have been found in some bodies. (News source.)

Gharial Mortality

21 endangered gharials have died recently in the Chambal River, India, possibly due to bacterial disease (though uncertain.) Conservationists are alarmed. (News source.)

Reptile Fossils from Blue Hole

Excavations in a Bahamian blue hole (a water-filled sinkhole) have come up with fossils of a terrestrial crocodilian, a large tortoise, and several other creatures that became extinct after the islands became inhabited. (News source.)

Vietnam Croc Escapees

A crocodile farm in Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, which had a large number of escapees during recent flooding is still uncertain how many might remain at large. "The company has said that of the 5,000 crocodiles it had before the floods, 216 have been found and 1,440 moved to a safer area. But it claims not to know how many are still in the farm." (News source.)

Ukraine Croc Finally Caught

The small crocodile that had escaped from a circus earlier this year was finally caught as cold weather set in. (News source.)

[Update - the crocodile died.]

India: Crocodilians Released

40 "alligators" have been released by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department into the River Chambal. I'm guessing the correct word is "gavials." Oddly, the article goes on to quote alligator facts (e.g, only found in China and America) taken off Wikipedia or wherever, but doesn't recognize the discontinuity. (News source.)

False Gharial in Thailand

It appears that a false gharial has been reported (and photographed) in Sattahip Lake, Thailand. The species hasn't been reported in that country since 1970. The photographs are not great, but it is a crocodilian, and has a profile consistent with Tomistoma schlegelii. (News source.)

Note, this is not the same species as the true gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, which the news source confuses.