Cuban Crocodile
(Crocodylus rhombifer)
Facts
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IUCN CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (CR)
Facts about this animal
The Cuban Crocodile has a snout of medium length, about 1.4 to 1.6 times as long as broad at the level of the front corners of the eyes. It has an unpaired elevated area in shape of a triangle in front of the eyes, with somewhat swollen side margins, and extending nearly to the nasal swelling. The colour of the upper body surface is blackish, densely speckled with yellow. The lower surface is uniformly light, without black blotches. The iris is greenish. It can grow up to 4 m, but is usually about 2.5 m.
Did you know?
that farms were established in the late 1950s and 1960s for reproducing Cuban crocodiles for skin and meat production, and that now a relatively large number of animals are produced annually to satisfy demand?
| Factsheet | |
|---|---|
| Class | REPTILIA |
| Order | CROCODYLIA |
| Suborder | EUSUCHIA |
| Family | CROCODYLIDAE |
| Name (Scientific) | Crocodylus rhombifer |
| Name (English) | Cuban Crocodile |
| Name (French) | Crocodile de Cuba |
| Name (German) | Rautenkrokodil |
| Name (Spanish) | Caimán de Cuba |
| CITES Status | Appendix I |
| CMS Status | Not listed |
Photo Copyright by
Ralf Sommerlad
Distribution
| Distribution | |
|---|---|
| Range | Cuba |
| Habitat | Prefers fresh water marshes or swamps |
| Wild population | 3.000 a 5.000, most likely 4.000 (IUCN 2012) |
| Zoo population | 61 reported to ISIS (2009) |
In the Zoo
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How this animal should be transported
For air transport, Container Note 42 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.
Find this animal on ZooLex
Photo Copyright by
Eric Mas Casas
Why do zoos keep this animal
With its length of 3 m C. rhombifer is an attractive medium-sized crocodilian which is well suited to be kept in zoos. In addition it has considerable educational value, since it is a critically endangered flagship species for the highly threatened freshwater swamps, rivers and lakes in its range. Also an internationally coordinated conservation breeding program would be urgently needed since the species is further threatened through hybridisation with the sympatric living species C. acutus. However C. rhombifer is kept and bred only occasionally in zoos.