Copyright Live 5 News WCSC
MIAMI (WFOR) - An American crocodile that was seen swimming in the Florida Keys with a spear stuck in the back of its head is now recovering after having it removed. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was notified Saturday about a female American crocodile swimming around in Key Largo with a spear lodged in her head. Officers captured the approximately 8-foot reptile Monday and took her to Zoo Miami, where she is currently undergoing treatment. Once the crocodile arrived at the zoo, Dr. Gwen Myers, chief of animal health, and her team conducted a number of tests and X-rays to see how far the spear was lodged inside her head. They believe she was shot with a speargun at close range. “We think that spear’s probably been in her head about maybe a week. It’s hard to say but somewhere between 6 or 7 days, could be a little bit longer,” Myers said. It took two people to carry the crocodile into the room where Myers was able to remove the spear by hand, avoiding surgery, on Tuesday morning. “If both of them [the barbs] had been out and trapped in the tissues, then we would’ve been regrouping and figuring out a surgery for her,” Myers said. The zoo discovered through X-rays that the crocodile had also been shot, with a bullet lodged between her eyes. “She has a bullet in her head as well. She has a small pellet in her skull. I don’t know how long that’s been in there, and it does not seem to be impacting vital organs. So, we are leaving that alone right now,” Myers said. Myers says the goal is to nurse the crocodile back to health then release her into the wild. “She’s not out of the woods. We kind of need to give her a little bit of time to see how this wound is going to behave,” she said. Authorities are now trying to find the person responsible for injuring the reptile. They’re offering a reward for any information that leads to an arrest. The American crocodile is listed as a federally threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is illegal to kill or harass the reptiles under both Florida and federal law.
