Cuban crocodile News

A 10-year-old male Cuban crocodile at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) has died.

Animal keeper Kyle Miller leaps into his experience caring for Cuban crocodiles!

It's nesting season. In April, the Reptile Discovery Center's Cuban crocodile Blanche built up a large mound nest. She constructed the nest by kicking up the mulch in the exhibit into a central location.

In March, female Cuban crocodile Rose underwent a series of tests to determine if she is still capable of producing healthy eggs. It all began with an egg — a perfectly smooth, white, oval-shaped, normally-sized egg — that Rose laid two months early. Nesting season for Cuban crocodiles does not...

The Reptile Discovery Center’s research on Cuban crocodiles continues! Currently, the team is listening for and recording vocalizations.

Keepers at the Reptile Discovery Center, including animal keeper Lauren Augustine, are upholding that proud tradition with ground-breaking research on social behavior, reproduction and play in a species not typically associated with any of those words: a crocodile.

Breeding season for our Cuban crocodiles ended in March, but staff continue to train the crocodiles to shift off exhibit. The hope is that when a keeper calls aloud for the crocs to shift, all of them will walk to the holding area in the back of their exhibit. Once they are in the holding, the doors...

Cuban crocodile breeding season started in December at the Reptile Discovery Center. This usually means we see some aggressive behaviors between our two males. Our males are separated in different enclosures and are never in the same space, but they can still see each other. They will signal their...

By: Lauren Augustine

It's an exciting time of year at RDC! Our Cuban crocodiles have begun exhibiting breeding behaviors. In general the males will initiate courtship with a head slap. This involves the male making a very specific posture in the pool where his head is raised above the waterline...

By: Lauren Augustine

During the first few months of their lives, our baby Cuban crocodiles are meticulously monitored to ensure they are growing properly. In addition getting an initial weight from them after they hatched, RDC keepers frequently weigh them each month to ensure they are eating and...

By Lauren Augustine

Summer has officially arrived in DC! And while visitors to the Zoo often flock to shade or the air conditioned buildings (like the Reptile Discovery Center), some animals are reveling in the heat—like our crocodiles. Crocodiles are ectothermic, meaning their body temperature is...