Olaf said:
Funny you guys should mention Sanibel. There was a
National Geographic special on the other night about the crocodiles on Sanibel. It used to be a policy on the island to let the animals roam free, despite becoming larger and larger. There were a couple of attacks on humans, and a death, which forced the island to reform their policy on
crocs. Now, when they get too large 4-5 feet, they're killed by hunters at night, with bows. Those were some nasty looking beasts.
I'd be interested to see a link to that info. I searched National Geographic Channel for both crocodile attacks and Sanibel and got absolutely nothing. I'm a Florida native, work for the National Park Service, and have NEVER heard of a
crocodile attack, much less a death, in the United States. Seems like that is something that would receive at least casual interest in the news media.
We do have American Crocodiles at the southern tip of Florida, usually from about Cape Sable in Everglades National Park to the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant east of Homestead, Florida. In fact, this is the only place
in the world where alligators and crocodiles live in the same ecosystem. They are primarily around the tip of Florida, but they range up both coasts. There have been at least two crocs at the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Reserve (administered by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) on Sanibel, and last summer two 12-footers were removed from a lake at the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables. The croc(s) at Ding Darling have been there for a number of years without incident, and the two at UM caused no problems either.
[ETA: American Crocodiles are also an endangered species, and hunting them would be an extremely serious felony under both U.S. and Florida Law. I can't even begin to think of the consequences to National Geographic if they filmed the hunting of an endangered species!]
The lower west coast of Florida, especially around Cape Coral, Ft. Myers, Sanibel, etc,
DOES have a major problem with
Nile Monitor Lizards -- an exotic species brought in for the pet trade. Monitors are
very aggressive, grow to 7+ feet, and could clearly be a threat to humans. It's possible Monitors were the species in the NG story; they get big enough to be confused with a crocodile. We have a similar problem in Everglades NP with Burmese Pythons, also a downside of the pet trade.
However, American Crocodiles are quite docile -- nothing like their cousins in Africa or Australia, both of whom are extremely aggressive. We have something under 1,000 American Crocodiles in Everglades NP, and I have never heard of one even
hissing at anyone, much less any aggressive action. They don't even protect their nests or young.
I'll check with our croc guy at Everglades if you really think the show was about crocs, but this sounds like either a misunderstanding or an urban legend to me.
