Brand-new baby crocodiles at the Košice zoo. (source: TASR)
A UNIQUE enhancement of animals bred in the Košice zoo is, since the beginning of September, the hatching of three dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis, also known as African dwarf).
“This is the first hatching of crocodiles in the history of Slovak zoos, (which are) almost 60 years old,” head of the Košice zoo Erich Kočner told the TASR newswire. The three babies were born to young parents stemming from the zoo in Jihlava, Czech Republic.
“We noticed the first laying of eggs in 2013 when the female laid four eggs,” Kočner said. “Now, in 2014, four out of six eggs were fertilised and of them, three young ones hatched.” The eggs were 85 days in an incubator where the staff had to be very careful and attentive.
The young crocodiles have been placed in a rearing room at first. If the breeding is successful, visitors will later be allowed to admire them. The dwarf crocodile is an endangered species, which lives wildly only in tropical regions of western and central Africa. With its size, it is a smaller species as adults grow to about 1.5-1.7 metres. Its breeding under human care is internationally monitored and coordinated.
