A
crocodile is not something one encounters everyday in the United
States, let alone along a small stream in Ohio’s Preble County near
the state line with Indiana.
Yet
on August 14th the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s officer assigned to
the county – Brad Turner – responded to a call that a crocodilian
animal was swimming in tiny Brantis Fork Creek near the also small
town of West Alexandria.
Turner
was notified of the animal’s appearance near a local church camp
following a report made by a group leader who was with a number of
children. The wildlife officer shot the creature “for public
safety,” said Brett Gates, spokesman for the Ohio Department of
Agriculture.
The
Agriculture Department became involved because it is this state body
that oversees Ohio’s dangerous wild animal permitting law. This
measure was enacted in 2014 following the intentional release of a
host of dangerous big-game animals in north-central Ohio.
It
is the Agriculture Department which issues permits to entities for
possessing specifically named wildlife which are considered
dangerous, among them being crocodiles. In all, the Agriculture
Department has currently on file 38 dangerous wild animal permits,
Gates said.
Gates
said the 7 1/2-foot long, 171-pound crocodile was delivered to the
Agriculture Department on August 15th. Its carcass was subsequently
destroyed via the agency’s bio-rendering equipment.
“We
wanted to see if the animal was micro-chipped or was otherwise marked
in such a way as to identify its owner,” Gate said. “But we also
wanted to see what kind of crocodile it was.”
Using
various crocodilian identification markers, the Agriculture
Department staff concluded the now-deceased animal was a Morelet’s
crocodile, also called a Mexican crocodile. This species is native to
mostly fresh-water environments across a small swath of Central
America that includes Belize and Guatemala and into Mexico’s
Yucatan Peninsula.
Morelet’s
crocodiles have also been introduced into the Rio Grande. It is
closely related to both the environmentally “vulnerable” listed
American crocodile and the “critically threatened” listed Cuban
crocodile though the Morlet is considered a species of “least
concern.”
And
at 7 ½ feet the Bantis Fork Morelet crocodile exceeds the species
average length of 6.9 feet while its weight of 171 pounds is
considerably much heavier than a wild specimen’s average weight of
84 to 128 pounds.
As
for food preferences, the Bantis Fork Creek Morelet crocodile would
have found much to its liking, prefering everything from fish to
small mammals to birds and reptiles. Opportunistic, Morelets also are
known to attack and eat domestic dogs and cats, while incidents of
specimens attacking cattle and humans likewise are recorded.
“This
is one reason why have the dangerous wild animal law,” Gates said.
Gates
said the Agriculture Department is working with local law enforcement
to try and discover who was the owner of the crocodile and thus to
secure information regarding how and why the animal either got away
or was released.
Violating
Ohio dangerous wild animal law is a misdemeanor
of the first degree on a first offense and a felony of the fifth
degree on each subsequent offense.
A misdemeanor of the first degree In
Ohio is
punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or
both, and
other potential assessments.
A felony of the fifth degree is punishable by up to six
to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both.
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
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