Cozumel, Q.R. — Police in Cozumel were sent to a private home after residents requested help with a crocodile. People living inside the home found the small reptile and did not know who to call, Policia Cozumel reported.
“Elements of the police corporation provided help to residents of Las Fincas who reported a crocodile inside their home.” The responding officers arrived to find a baby crocodile who had wandered onto the property.
“During a supervision and prevention tour, the Deputy Director of Traffic Telly Caamal Hau and elements of the police were hailed by a group of neighbors near the Las Fincas entrance who indicated that in a home, of one of the residents had a crocodile inside and they did not know who to call,” they reported.
The officers patrolling the area went inside the home where they secured an 80 centimeter long baby crocodile.
“Upon arrival, police observed that it was a baby crocodile measuring approximately 80 centimeters. For this reason, and to prevent it from going to another home, they proceeded to secure it, placing it in a bag without causing harm.
“Later they transferred it to the Ecology Subdirectorate where it were received by the chief operative Biologist Gibrán Tuxpan Torrijo who confirmed that the species was a juvenile river crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), which is a protected species,” they reported.
Once the paperwork was completed, police returned to their work role, later confirming that the crocodile was released by Ecology staff into its natural habitat in the mangrove area in the northern part of the island.
Last week, a family in Chetumal called firemen after they located a 1.5 meter long crocodile sleeping in an enclosed area of their back yard.
