![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charisstomaAlright, it's official, I've read too many shifter stories/written too many familiar stories.
Nile Crocs hmmmm Those airport full body x-ray scans, would they reveal if someone was a Croc-shifter?
Nile Crocodiles Found Near Miami, Researchers Confirm
Snakes and lizards and crocodiles, oh my!
All of these creatures, which include Burmese pythons and carnivorous lizards, have turned up in Florida in recent years, sparking concerns about possible damage from invasive species and questions about how the nonnative animals came to be in the state.
Now scientists have determined that three crocodiles captured near Miami in 2009, 2011 and 2014 are indeed Nile crocodiles, the far more aggressive relative of American crocodiles, which are native to the Everglades. The researchers suspect there are other Nile crocodiles in Florida as well, The Miami Herald reports.
"I've heard of enough sightings of a strange-looking croc in the areas that are connected to this to make me think it's possible," University of Florida biologist Frank Mazzotti, one of the scientists who confirmed the crocodiles' species, told the Herald. "But yeah, I don't think we've pulled out the last one yet."
Using DNA, Mazzotti and another biologist, Kenneth Krysko, also confirmed the crocodiles didn't come from any known captive populations.
Krysko said "the captured crocodiles matched genetically, meaning they are related to one another, but didn't match Nile crocs kept at Disney's Animal Kingdom and other licensed Florida attractions," The Associated Press reports.
So how did the aggressive crocodiles — which, according to the AP, "are believed to be responsible for up to 200 fatalities annually in their native sub-Saharan Africa" — get to South Florida?
"They didn't swim from Africa," Krysko told the news service. "But we really don't know how they got into the wild."
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."
With any invasive species, there's a risk of disrupting the ecosystem. As NPR reported earlier this year, in the past two decades, the Burmese pythons, which can grow up to 20 feet, have "taken a big toll on native wildlife" in the fragile Everglades ecosystem. In fact, their presence has become so problematic, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission held an "event where it showed prospective hunters how best to corral a 10-foot-long snake," NPR's Greg Allen wrote.
The Herald says that the crocodiles could pose a similar problem. The newspaper wrote:
"While no one's suggesting the Nile crocs may become the next Burmese python, their presence does raise concern. This species, commonly found in South Africa, can live in colder regions — a range that would extend as far north as Savannah, Ga. A special state permit is required to legally possess or breed Nile crocs in Florida but there is fear that illegal trade in the reptiles could increase the risk of more escapes."
Nile Crocs hmmmm Those airport full body x-ray scans, would they reveal if someone was a Croc-shifter?
Nile Crocodiles Found Near Miami, Researchers Confirm
Snakes and lizards and crocodiles, oh my!
All of these creatures, which include Burmese pythons and carnivorous lizards, have turned up in Florida in recent years, sparking concerns about possible damage from invasive species and questions about how the nonnative animals came to be in the state.
Now scientists have determined that three crocodiles captured near Miami in 2009, 2011 and 2014 are indeed Nile crocodiles, the far more aggressive relative of American crocodiles, which are native to the Everglades. The researchers suspect there are other Nile crocodiles in Florida as well, The Miami Herald reports.
"I've heard of enough sightings of a strange-looking croc in the areas that are connected to this to make me think it's possible," University of Florida biologist Frank Mazzotti, one of the scientists who confirmed the crocodiles' species, told the Herald. "But yeah, I don't think we've pulled out the last one yet."
Using DNA, Mazzotti and another biologist, Kenneth Krysko, also confirmed the crocodiles didn't come from any known captive populations.
Krysko said "the captured crocodiles matched genetically, meaning they are related to one another, but didn't match Nile crocs kept at Disney's Animal Kingdom and other licensed Florida attractions," The Associated Press reports.
So how did the aggressive crocodiles — which, according to the AP, "are believed to be responsible for up to 200 fatalities annually in their native sub-Saharan Africa" — get to South Florida?
"They didn't swim from Africa," Krysko told the news service. "But we really don't know how they got into the wild."
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."
With any invasive species, there's a risk of disrupting the ecosystem. As NPR reported earlier this year, in the past two decades, the Burmese pythons, which can grow up to 20 feet, have "taken a big toll on native wildlife" in the fragile Everglades ecosystem. In fact, their presence has become so problematic, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission held an "event where it showed prospective hunters how best to corral a 10-foot-long snake," NPR's Greg Allen wrote.
The Herald says that the crocodiles could pose a similar problem. The newspaper wrote:
"While no one's suggesting the Nile crocs may become the next Burmese python, their presence does raise concern. This species, commonly found in South Africa, can live in colder regions — a range that would extend as far north as Savannah, Ga. A special state permit is required to legally possess or breed Nile crocs in Florida but there is fear that illegal trade in the reptiles could increase the risk of more escapes."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-05-21 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-21 09:26 pm (UTC)No you need to get back to Jarred and Drago shoo shoo.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-21 10:16 pm (UTC)snack time?...fast food!
*snicker*
no subject
Date: 2016-05-24 12:06 am (UTC)Also if the food is fast then it gets away. You must have meant slooooow food.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-24 01:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-24 12:15 am (UTC)Disneyland's best memories were the old fashioned and now probably gone, Rocket ride where the seats shook to simulate the take off And the voice, telling me not to touch the bar it would come back on its own, that came from the back of the creepy bonnet car just as I was reaching for that safety bar to pull it into place. Also there was a Burlington cloth store where I bought wool, itchy but tartan fabric which I never did make into anything drat it and a cooking store that had neat kitchen cooking gadgets.
Don't like amusement rides and since Disneyland is in California where they have earthquakes and many of the rides are 6 stories below ground and there's thousands of people above ground who will be hurt/dead/injured... yeah didn't think they would be digging us up in time IF we survived.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-24 01:41 pm (UTC)The Harry Potter world looks good but interactive wands sound a touch much and I'd worry it was too glossy.
I'm not a fan of any rides and can do without experiencing an earthquake!
The Magic Kingdom
Date: 2016-05-24 11:59 pm (UTC)Re: The Magic Kingdom
Date: 2016-05-25 06:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-24 12:21 am (UTC)This is what I would find fascinating especially with a small, quick young grandson who at the zoo chased a pigeon until it flew away in disgust. Feeding the ducks/geese and their ducklings/goslings.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-24 01:42 pm (UTC)And go talk to the Chickens over the allotment.
Hubby goes and talks to them while my Dad and I talk plants ;)