Rare croc lays dozens of eggs at St. Augustine Alligator Farm

Fertile ones will hatch in a few months; fewer than 1,000 exist now.
Posted: April 15, 2011 - 12:00am

By Marcia Lane

St. Augustine Record

ST. AUGUSTINE - Officials at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park know just how those women feel who deliver babies all the while protesting they weren't even aware they were expecting.

"We didn't know she was pregnant," said John Brueggen, director of the popular tourist exhibit.

"She" is a 15-year-old gharial crocodilian named Karma, an India native who on Thursday presented the zoological park with a clutch of 41 eggs. Those eggs are the first since a group of juvenile gharials was brought into the United States about 15 years ago in an effort to help preserve the critically endangered species. There are fewer than 1,000 in the world.

The eggs count as "a very big deal," Brueggen said.

Keepers found 30 eggs in the pond that's part of an exhibit housing two females and one male gharial, a species losing its habitat and lives to habitat destruction and over-fishing. As the day progressed, Karma laid another 11 in the pond.

Normally the mother would have dug a hole in a sandbank in which to lay her eggs; the pond delivery was her way of telling the staff they hadn't provided a good place for her to give birth.

"We thought we had years," Brueggen said of the gharials, who at 15 are still considered juveniles.

Normally when the male is sexually mature a large node grows on the tip of its long narrow snout. That node is known as a ghara, and the source of the animal's name. The male at the Alligator Farm has developed a small ghara, but nothing like that found on gharials in the wild.

Then those eggs appeared. Keepers rescued the eggs from the water. If they had left them, water would have seeped inside drowning the embryo. The thick mucus around each egg protected them.

Jen Walkowich, a reptile keeper at the facility, cleaned off the eggs, measured them and marked them with a pencil. From there they were put in plastic containers filled with a vermiculite mix (yes, like the stuff used in gardening).

"It keeps the moisture. You need close to 100 percent humidity," Brueggen said.

One of the eggs was broken during the transfers from outside to inside.

The remaining eggs are now divided among three incubators in order to eliminate the risk of mechanical failure. The gharials are temperature dependent for sex determination, and the incubators are set at 89 to 92 degrees.

Within a few days, park officials should know which of the eggs are fertile.

The clue will be a dark band that develops around the egg. After that happens the eggs can't be turned since the young develop from the top down and turning could kill them.

"Once we know they're fertile, everything is in our hands," Brueggen said.

In about two months the gharials should hatch, and then the Alligator Farm can start handing out the cigars.

Protecting the species

Fifteen years ago the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park joined with others to help the Indian gharial.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the number of gharials has declined 96 to 98 percent since 1946. In the 1970s the gharial was considered on the brink of extinction and is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.

It's estimated the wild population is now down to several hundred and the total population including captive animals is less than 1,000.

These days 15 of the animals are in six institutions in the United States.

"We knew we had to start breeding some sort of as an insurance colony," said Brueggen. "They're a very rare species in the wild."

The facility's three gharials - Raj, Karma and Sutra - came to the facility 15 years ago as young animals only a couple of feet long.

These days they're 11 feet plus in length. Raj is one of only three males in the United States.

"What's endangering [the species] the most is mostly habitat destruction, polluted rivers, over fishing and, oddly enough, the mafia in India. They steal sand for construction purposes. The animals need pristine sand beaches along the river to lay their eggs," Brueggen said.

Unlike alligators that mound their nests out of vegetation and lay their eggs, the gharials are like sea turtles and dig holes in the sand in which to lay their eggs. They don't lay where the sand is disturbed.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-04-15/story/rare-croc-lays-dozens-eggs-st-augustine-alligator-farm

Gator sobers up in drunk tank

Published: Oct. 7, 2010 at 1:22 PM

PIERRELATTE, France, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- French police said an escaped alligator was brought in by a woman and spent the night in the jail's drunk tank.

Police in Pierrelatte said a woman found the Chinese alligator, which measured only about 3 feet long, outside of a restaurant Tuesday and brought it to the police station, Radio France Internationale reported Thursday.

The reptile, which does not have strong enough jaws to attack humans, spent the night in a cell designed for drunk suspects and the following day was returned to a nearby crocodile farm.

Samuel Martin, who runs the crocodile farm, said the alligator escaped two months ago with another reptile that is still on the loose.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2010/10/07/Gator-sobers-up-in-drunk-tank/UPI-82281286472166/

Gator sobers up in drunk tank

Published: Oct. 7, 2010 at 1:22 PM

PIERRELATTE, France, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- French police said an escaped alligator was brought in by a woman and spent the night in the jail's drunk tank.

Police in Pierrelatte said a woman found the Chinese alligator, which measured only about 3 feet long, outside of a restaurant Tuesday and brought it to the police station, Radio France Internationale reported Thursday.

The reptile, which does not have strong enough jaws to attack humans, spent the night in a cell designed for drunk suspects and the following day was returned to a nearby crocodile farm.

Samuel Martin, who runs the crocodile farm, said the alligator escaped two months ago with another reptile that is still on the loose.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2010/10/07/Gator-sobers-up-in-drunk-tank/UPI-82281286472166/

Grumpy crocodile jailed for three days

Police imprison saltwater crocodile for loitering in Australia's Northern Territory
Monday, October 5, 2009

Police threw a grumpy crocodile in jail after it was discovered loitering in a town.

The two-metre long saltwater crocodile was hanging around by a fence trying to look innocent, officers in Australia's Northern Territory said.

Sergeant Adam Russell said his plan to nab the reptile in style was vetoed by rangers.

"I wanted to jump on it Steve Irwin style," he told Northern Territory News.

"But [the rangers] wouldn't let me."

Instead the creature was bound and bundled into the back of a pick-up truck and taken to the police cells.

It was remanded in custody for three days until it was picked up by staff from a crocodile farm.

Sgt Russell said the reptile was hosed down every couple of hours in its cell but would hiss whenever anybody came near.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Grumpy_crocodile_jailed_for_three_days&in_article_id=747885&in_page_id=2

Grumpy crocodile jailed for three days

Police imprison saltwater crocodile for loitering in Australia's Northern Territory
Monday, October 5, 2009

Police threw a grumpy crocodile in jail after it was discovered loitering in a town.

The two-metre long saltwater crocodile was hanging around by a fence trying to look innocent, officers in Australia's Northern Territory said.

Sergeant Adam Russell said his plan to nab the reptile in style was vetoed by rangers.

"I wanted to jump on it Steve Irwin style," he told Northern Territory News.

"But [the rangers] wouldn't let me."

Instead the creature was bound and bundled into the back of a pick-up truck and taken to the police cells.

It was remanded in custody for three days until it was picked up by staff from a crocodile farm.

Sgt Russell said the reptile was hosed down every couple of hours in its cell but would hiss whenever anybody came near.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Grumpy_crocodile_jailed_for_three_days&in_article_id=747885&in_page_id=2

Tourists turn croc handlers for a day

30 September 2009

By Cathy Harper

Dozens of interstate and overseas tourists have become croc musterers for the day in Darwin.

A crocodile farm in the Northern Territory capital today opened its doors to volunteers wanting a hands-on experience with the dangerous animals.

The farm needed almost 400 of its young reptiles measured and moved into pens with animals their own size.

But before the inexperienced croc handlers could get close to the beasts, which ranged in size from 1.2 to 2 metres, they were temporarily stunned with an electric shock and subdued with tape by experts.

"When you keep them in big numbers in captivity, the big ones will eventually bully the smaller ones," zoo keeper Tate Chambers said.

Adelaide tourist Kerri Williams, who was in Darwin visiting her sister, Karen Avery, got more than she bargained for.

"One got out so Karen ran and grabbed it and I jumped on its head, got on its head and held it, so that was really exciting," she said.

They left with a tale they are happy to admit may get embellished as it is retold.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/30/2701035.htm

Tourists turn croc handlers for a day

30 September 2009

By Cathy Harper

Dozens of interstate and overseas tourists have become croc musterers for the day in Darwin.

A crocodile farm in the Northern Territory capital today opened its doors to volunteers wanting a hands-on experience with the dangerous animals.

The farm needed almost 400 of its young reptiles measured and moved into pens with animals their own size.

But before the inexperienced croc handlers could get close to the beasts, which ranged in size from 1.2 to 2 metres, they were temporarily stunned with an electric shock and subdued with tape by experts.

"When you keep them in big numbers in captivity, the big ones will eventually bully the smaller ones," zoo keeper Tate Chambers said.

Adelaide tourist Kerri Williams, who was in Darwin visiting her sister, Karen Avery, got more than she bargained for.

"One got out so Karen ran and grabbed it and I jumped on its head, got on its head and held it, so that was really exciting," she said.

They left with a tale they are happy to admit may get embellished as it is retold.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/30/2701035.htm

Wanted: volunteers to move 400 crocs

By Jano Gibson

Posted Mon Sep 28, 2009

A Northern Territory wildlife park is seeking volunteers to relocate some of its dangerous inhabitants.

Crocodylus Park, which operates as a zoo and commercial crocodile farm in Darwin, needs helpers to shift about 400 saltwater crocodiles into new ponds.

"It's a bit of an adventure," says the park's research director, Matt Brien, who has had about 15 people sign up for the chance to get up close and personal with the feared reptiles.

But he still needs more.

"The more the merrier. The reason being we try to take as many precautions as possible," he said.

"Ideally we'd have two people handling every animal. It's a lot safer [than one person]."

The mass relocation, which is taking place on Wednesday, is needed to ensure larger crocs at the park are not kept in the same pond as smaller ones.

"If there are big ones with little ones, problems occur," Mr Brien said.

Before moving the creatures, which range in size between 1.2 metres and 2 metres, an electric shock is used to stun them, and then tape is wrapped around their mouths and eyes.

"Otherwise you can imagine how dangerous it would be trying to round up [the] crocs]."

Mr Brien says the relocation, which usually takes place about once a year for animals of this size, is a great opportunity for people who want to see what it is like to work with crocs.

"Usually [we get] backpackers and students, people doing degrees with animals," he said.

"It gives them an opportunity to handle large reptiles, an opportunity they wouldn't normally get."

He says once the animals reach more than 2 metres in length, they will be used for skins and meat.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/28/2698256.htm

Wanted: volunteers to move 400 crocs

By Jano Gibson

Posted Mon Sep 28, 2009

A Northern Territory wildlife park is seeking volunteers to relocate some of its dangerous inhabitants.

Crocodylus Park, which operates as a zoo and commercial crocodile farm in Darwin, needs helpers to shift about 400 saltwater crocodiles into new ponds.

"It's a bit of an adventure," says the park's research director, Matt Brien, who has had about 15 people sign up for the chance to get up close and personal with the feared reptiles.

But he still needs more.

"The more the merrier. The reason being we try to take as many precautions as possible," he said.

"Ideally we'd have two people handling every animal. It's a lot safer [than one person]."

The mass relocation, which is taking place on Wednesday, is needed to ensure larger crocs at the park are not kept in the same pond as smaller ones.

"If there are big ones with little ones, problems occur," Mr Brien said.

Before moving the creatures, which range in size between 1.2 metres and 2 metres, an electric shock is used to stun them, and then tape is wrapped around their mouths and eyes.

"Otherwise you can imagine how dangerous it would be trying to round up [the] crocs]."

Mr Brien says the relocation, which usually takes place about once a year for animals of this size, is a great opportunity for people who want to see what it is like to work with crocs.

"Usually [we get] backpackers and students, people doing degrees with animals," he said.

"It gives them an opportunity to handle large reptiles, an opportunity they wouldn't normally get."

He says once the animals reach more than 2 metres in length, they will be used for skins and meat.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/28/2698256.htm