点评:As a potential future member of the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group, the status of the animals was poor but after a long discussion with one of the best staff members (Mr.Fonel who is now a close friend due to our similar passions) I began to understand their troubles and that in truth, he and some of the other staff truly care about these awesome reptiles. As someone who not only named some of the animals there, as well as deeply cared for them as if they were my own during my short two day visits, me and Mr. Fonel got along well and discussed the future of this place. While it’s run down, we’re really hoping that the new management team coming will aid in the transition from a overpacked area to a well spaced area with crocodiles in a less stressed environment.
Unfortunately Mr. Fonel wasn’t in the area for decisions but we discussed how a lot of unused land on the property could turn into a much more spacey, and natural enclosure for crocodiles, especially to separate some of the “troublemaker” Males such as Scar, a animal just below 3 meters who frequently causes fights even bullying other male crocodiles nearly twice his size and sometimes attacks keepers.
Scar was the croc I had the most eyes on, especially because of his aggression, the main enclosure is overpacked but Mr. Fonel told me that in the past, the main enclosure was far more expansive & better for all the Adult crocodiles(you can even see sand still remaining from back then) but corruption amongst the people in control during the past made the enclosures shrink dramatically and the reason for this is unknown. The Current Owner, Mr. Matuto, was also very kind during a quick phone call and even let me in free because of my status but I could not discuss the status of the property and the animals during my visit as he was busy elsewhere.
There was some other aggressive animals in the other enclosures, even among the juveniles which are supposed to be very docile, but I gave my new friend the idea of something just to enrich the animals(Such as giving them chewable objects to mess around with as crocodilians do show play behavior with such things) and provoke them less with sticks, as this will probably reduce some of the aggressive behavior of the animals before any renovations are done. My idea was that they could turn the unused land near the entrance into a nursery of sorts for baby crocodiles that is 7 meters long and 9 meters wide(This is the preferable enclosure size for the 7 juvenile animals that I was most fond of and potentially later for smaller individuals). Instead of using concrete as well, the animals would get a large natural water source which is already possible due to the extremely massive pond which is also used to clean the adult enclosures. Natural prey such as fish would also go into said ponds in the enclosure so the animals can have a varied diet instead of just cow flesh that we fed them with. I have also noted, some of the juveniles are extremely used to human interaction and are entirely relaxed when I went into the enclosure to observe them up close, others were showing natural behavior of either attempting to stalk me, or diving away.
The place allows daring people to get into the enclosure, even with the aggressive adults which I frowned upon. I understand that with the smaller individuals, this is at least somewhat okay if the people inside are forced to keep a large distance unless they’re like me and know how the animals will behave, but seeing tourist who know nothing about crocodile behavior getting into the enclosures with the 3-4 meter highly territorial adult males is just a recipe for disaster, even if the area is not liable for any injury or death inside the enclosures.
Keepers or people with already proper experience with both wild and captive adult crocodiles such as myself should be the only ones allowed to enter the enclosures with Adult Animals, juveniles is a maybe because many of them are already as docile as a crocodile can be, and some even show enjoyment to being touched or scratched on the neck or spinal region, but even then, caution should be advised at all cost.
Overall, this place currently isn’t in the best shape and needs a lot of work but I know in the future, it will definitely get somewhere better, I hope those crocodiles especially the ones I named such as Mean Old Scar, Magar the Boss Croc, the juvenile squad and all the other animals all get better treatment that they deserve, me and Mr. Fonel both know crocodiles aren’t mindless killing machines(I have already been up close to a 5 meter wild Mara Crocodile) and when I went with them, it was even more obvious so.
Decent place with lots of hidden potential.
翻译:作为 IUCN 鳄鱼专家小组未来的潜在成员,这些动物的状况很差,但在与一位最好的工作人员(Fonel 先生,由于我们相似的热情,他现在是我们的亲密朋友)进行了长时间的讨论后,我开始了解他们的麻烦,事实上,他和其他一些员工真正关心这些令人敬畏的爬行动物。在我短暂的两天访问期间,我不仅为那里的一些动物命名,而且深深地照顾它们,就像它们是我自己的一样,我和福内尔先生相处得很好,并讨论了这个地方的未来。虽然它已经破旧,但我们真的希望新管理团队的到来将有助于从人满为患的区域过渡到压力较小的、空间宽敞、有鳄鱼的区域。
不幸的是,福内尔先生不在该地区做出决定,但我们讨论了如何将地产上的大量未使用土地变成一个更宽敞、更自然的鳄鱼栖息地,特别是为了隔离一些“麻烦制造者”的雄性鳄鱼,例如Scar是一种身高不足3米的动物,经常引发打斗,甚至欺负其他体型接近其两倍的雄性鳄鱼,有时还会攻击饲养员。
Scar是我最关注的鳄鱼,特别是因为他的攻击性,主围栏已经挤满了人,但Fonel先生告诉我,在过去,主围栏对于所有成年鳄鱼来说都更加宽敞和更好(你可以甚至看到当时的沙子还残留着)但过去统治者的腐败使圈地急剧缩小,其原因不明。现任业主 Matuto 先生在一次简短的电话中也非常友善,甚至因为我的身份而让我免费进入,但我无法在访问期间讨论财产和动物的状况,因为他在其他地方很忙。
其他围栏里还有一些其他攻击性的动物,甚至是那些被认为非常温顺的幼年动物,但我给了我的新朋友一些想法,只是为了丰富这些动物(比如给它们一些可咀嚼的物品来乱搞)鳄鱼确实会对这些东西表现出玩耍行为),并少用棍子激怒它们,因为这可能会在任何整修完成之前减少动物的一些攻击性行为。我的想法是,他们可以把入口附近的未使用土地变成一个类似小鳄鱼的保育室,长7米,宽9米(这是我最喜欢的7种幼年动物的最佳围栏尺寸,也是我可能喜欢的)稍后针对较小的个体)。动物不再使用混凝土,而是获得大量的天然水源,这已经成为可能,因为巨大的池塘也用于清洁成年动物的围栏。鱼类等天然猎物也会进入围栏内的池塘,这样动物就可以有多样化的饮食,而不仅仅是我们喂它们的牛肉。我还注意到,一些青少年非常习惯人类互动,当我进入围栏近距离观察它们时,它们完全放松,其他青少年表现出自然行为,要么试图跟踪我,要么跳开。
这个地方允许勇敢的人进入围栏,即使是那些我不赞成的好斗的成年人。我知道对于较小的个体来说,如果里面的人被迫保持很远的距离,这至少是可以接受的,除非他们像我一样知道动物的行为方式,但是看到对鳄鱼行为一无所知的游客进入3-4米高领地性成年雄性的围栏只会引发灾难,即使该地区不对围栏内的任何伤害或死亡负责。
饲养员或像我这样对野生和圈养成年鳄鱼有适当经验的人应该是唯一被允许进入成年动物围栏的人,青少年是可能的,因为他们中的许多人已经像鳄鱼一样温顺了,而且有些人甚至表现出喜欢触摸或抓挠颈部或脊柱区域,但即便如此,仍应不惜一切代价谨慎行事。
总的来说,这个地方目前的状态不是最好的,需要做很多工作,但我知道在未来,它肯定会变得更好,我希望那些鳄鱼,尤其是我命名的那些,比如Mean Old Scar、Magar the Boss鳄鱼、少年小分队和所有其他动物都得到了他们应得的更好的待遇,我和福内尔先生都知道鳄鱼不是无意识的杀人机器(我已经近距离接触过5米长的野生马拉鳄鱼),当我跟着他们走,就更明显了。
体面的地方,有很多隐藏的潜力。