Airport Crocodile Tail Amputated
A crocodile captured in a canal near Marcus A. Gelabert domestic airport on Monday underwent tail amputation surgery three days later.
The animal suffered the tail injuries as a result of the three hour struggle with the National Environmental Authority that dragged him ashore. On Thursday, it took veterinarians 45 minutes to lop off 10 inches off the damaged tail.
Modesto Tunon, spokesman for the National Environmental Authority said the crocodile weighs about a thousand pounds; and is around 15 feet long, give or take a few inches.
Airport Canal Crocodile After Capture / PHOTO El Siglo
Will the crocodile miss 10 inches?
Bob Freer, Manager and Curator of the Everglades Outpost in Florida, told The Panama Digest that cutting off ten inches is going to slow the croc down some but, at 15 feet long, he still has plenty of tail to sweep for food and get around.
The crocodile’s tail usually makes up half of a crocodile’s length and is used for aquatic propulsion/steering, food sweeping and, when it feels threatened, as a weapon.
Freer co-founded the Everglades Outpost in 1993, a nature rehabilitation center with 2.5 acres, 232 animals, and hundreds of species. It is a not-for-profit center dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of wild and exotic wildlife, as well as educational and tourist tours.