17:05 2023-01-29
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_ Biggest crocodile in a Romanian zoo is to be found in Sibiu
Biggest crocodile in a Romanian zoo is to be found in Sibiu
The biggest crocodile in a zoo in Romania is to be found in Sibiu, a 20-year-old male, four metres long and weighing almost 300 kilogrammes, the veterinarian of the Sibiu-based zoo, Liviu Todescu, told Agerpres.
"The zoo in Sibiu is proud of the biggest crocodile in the country, a Nile crocodile. It came to us from the zoo in Bucharest. It is a male. It measures four metres in length and about 280 kilogrammes. It is a beautiful specimen so that the habitat conditions must also be special. We are proud to be able to offer it these conditions and we are proud to have such a specimen," said Liviu Todescu.
Brought from the Bucharest Zoo five years ago, the Nile crocodile in Sibiu has a heated pool and a small landscaped beach, with ultraviolet and infrared bulbs that offer him warmth at all times.
"Being an exotic species, he must always have a microclimate that is controlled, somewhere at 28-30 Celsius degrees as temperature, humidity 60-70%. The pool is always heated with temperature control. Being winter, he cannot sit in the sun so we have ultraviolet and infrared bulbs that can mimic the beneficial effect of the sun for him, instead. We have a heated beach where the crocodile periodically chooses where it wants to sit: if he wants to sit on the beach, as if he were sitting in the sun, or if he wants to sit in the pool," explains Liviu Todescu.
The crocodile in Sibiu has a chance to live for at least half a century, if it is well taken care of and will be healthy, according to the veterinarian from the Sibiu Zoo.
For now, he is alone. If he were to receive a female partner, that would mean a larger space, provided with dividers, because even in captivity, just like in freedom, there is the risk of a confrontation.
One of the pleasures of the crocodile from Sibiu is... poultry. He eats 3 - 4 kilogrammes of meat per meal.
"He doesn't eat every day, about every two to three days, a week. We give him the amount of food, generally 3 to 4 kilogrammes, depending on how much he eats. If he eats a lot, we supplement it. (...) Even in freedom, he doesn't eat every day. We also give him beef or horse meat, but poultry is his favourite," the veterinarian said.
In order to follow the evolution of the animal, the people at the Zoo do not measure it, nor weigh it, but are guided by certain landmarks on the sand on which it moves. To be able to measure and weigh it would mean tying it up and that would imply stress for the animal in captivity.
"It is more difficult [to measure - editor's note], because it is difficult to keep still. And there is a risk of stress. To avoid this, we only take some guides from the marks he leaves in the sand. Normally it does not grow that much, compared to an animal that is free, the growth is a little slower," mentioned the veterinarian from Sibiu Zoo.
Liviu Todescu also has a piece of advice for visitors: to watch the crocodile's behaviour carefully when they come to the zoo and not to rush.
"Each animal has something special. Our crocodile has his behaviour. Because he sits very still underwater and closes his eyes, many people, especially visitors, say that we have stuffed animals. The role of a visitor is to watch the animal. We are a zoo, we are not a museum of nature. We have to take into account the biology of the animal. And in freedom they eat, after which they sit and rest for a very long time, they do not hunt. They are active during hunting periods or during the reproduction period," says Liviu Todescu.
At the zoo in Sibiu, there was another crocodile with a plate, before this current one. In the Sibiu Zoo application, under Curiosities, visitors can find out that a newborn crocodile is three times bigger than the egg it just came out of. Another curiosity is the fact that they cannot stick out their tongue because they have a protection against biting it with their powerful jaws.
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