January 4, 2007
What is an eight-foot long crocodile (Crocodylus sp.) – a Mexican example is seen above – doing in the Cayman Islands? They have been extinct there for an undetermined number of years. It obviously is not someone’s escaped pet.
“Mystery crocodile described as ‘very fast and aggressive’”
Cayman News
Thursday, January 4, 2007
The origin of an eight-foot long crocodile captured near Old Man Bay in Grand Cayman last Saturday remains a mystery.
Sightings of the reptile in the north of the Island prompted 911 calls from members of the public.
Police officers and officials from the Department of the Environment safely contained it for transfer to Boatswain’s Beach where it is currently under veterinary supervision.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) said that rumours about an incident involving a second crocodile were unfounded.
They said a further search was conducted on Sunday after reports that a second creature had been seen, but it was believed these were actually sightings of the captured crocodile at different locations.
Kenneth Hydes, Managing Director of the Boatswain’s Beach tourist attraction, confirmed that they were looking after the crocodile, saying it was a multi-agency effort to care for it.
The main investigation is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture.
Spokesperson for the department, Brian Critchlow, said it was too early to comment on where the crocodile came from.
“It is under veterinary care at Boatswain’s Beach and all reports suggest that it is doing well,” he said.
“A full investigation is underway to try and determine the origin of the crocodile but it is too early to speculate on how it arrived here.”
He confirmed it was a saltwater crocodile, saying that the creature was very fast and aggressive.
Although the Cayman Islands once had a thriving crocodile population, Cayman being derived from caiman or Caymanas, they were believed to have been hunted to extinction over 200 years ago.
The nearest obvious source of crocodiles is Cuba where the surviving indigenous population is supplemented by a farming programme which produces meat and skins.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Filed under Breaking News, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Extinct, Eyewitness Accounts, Out of Place