The Crocodile Zoo ( da, Krokodille Zoo) is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

on the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

. It is located just to the southwest of Gundslevmagle, northeast of

Eskilstrup Eskilstrup is a town some north of Nykøbing Falster on the Danish island of Falster. As of 2022, it had a population of 1,066. History Eskilstrup Church built in the Romanesque style dates from the 12th century. In accordance with a local tr ...

, towards the northern centre of the island. Established in 2000, the zoo has the world's largest collection of

crocodilians Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living ...

(

crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant ...

s and relatives) with all 23 existing species (same as

St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park is one of Florida's oldest continuously running attractions, having opened on May 20, 1893. It has 24 species of crocodilians, and also a variety of other reptiles, mammals and birds, as well as exh ...

).Folketidende
"Zoo har nu alle verdens krokodillearter"
Retrieved 6 March 2013. This includes the only

Orinoco crocodile The Orinoco crocodile (''Crocodylus intermedius'') is a critically endangered crocodile. Its population is very small, and they can only be found in the Orinoco river basin in Colombia and Venezuela. Extensively hunted for their skins in the 1 ...

s outside the Americas, which are part of a breeding program involving US zoos and the Venezuelan government. Their male

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...

''Sobek'', at more than long and in weight, is the largest crocodilian in Europe, and ''Medusa'', a

reticulated python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest snake, and is among the three heaviest. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List because of its w ...

, is among the largest snakes in Europe.

History

Founded by Rene Hedegaard, it is the largest museum of its kind in Europe. Developed in cooperation with Bøgecentret, the museum opened to the public in June 2000.

Exhibits

Although the exterior of the zoo is not striking, located at an old farm in the countryside, its exhibits are more impressive. It provides a good opportunity to see the difference between crocodiles, alligators and all the other species. Crocodiles are inactive most of the time but with so many variants, at least one of them is likely to be active during a visit. A portion of each sold admission ticket is contributed towards conservation projects conducted by the Crocodile Specialist Group. All crocodiles in the zoo come from prior captivity. All the larger crocodiles are housed in well designed surroundings with plants and artificial cliffs which they share with

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked ...

s and

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...

s. The smaller species have spacious

terrarium A terrarium (plural: terraria or terrariums) is usually a sealable glass container containing soil and plants that can be opened for maintenance to access the plants inside; however, terraria can also be open to the atmosphere. Terraria are ofte ...

s at their disposal, allowing them to be seen close up. Crocodile Zoo participates in several breeding programs, and coordinates the European programs for the

black caiman The black caiman (''Melanosuchus niger'') is a species of large crocodilian and is the largest species of the family Alligatoridae. It is a carnivorous reptile that lives along slow-moving rivers, lakes, seasonally flooded savannas of the Amaz ...

and

Philippine crocodile The Philippine crocodile (''Crocodylus mindorensis''), also known as the Mindoro crocodile, the Philippine freshwater crocodile, the ''bukarot'' in Ilocano, and more generally as a ''buwaya'' in most Filipino lowland cultures, is one of two spec ...

.KrokodilleZoo
Krokodillebevarelse.
Retrieved 23 April 2017. The visit starts with the huge

s and the slightly smaller

gharial The gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus''), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are long, and males . Adult males have a distinct ...

s, before proceeding down a long corridor lined with crocodiles on either side. At the far end, there is a pit with large turtles. Around the walls there are smaller terriums with other reptiles such as snakes, including a

green anaconda The green anaconda (''Eunectes murinus''), also known as the giant Emerald anaconda, common anaconda, common water boa or sucuri, is a boa species found in South America. It is the heaviest and one of the longest known extant snake species. Li ...

. The visit ends in a small tropical house where large

alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis'' ...

s can be seen from a footbridge. There are red lories, green iguanas, and

marmoset The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are 22 New World monkey species of the genera '' Callithrix'', '' Cebuella'', '' Callibella'', and '' Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term "marmoset" ...

s as well as small terrariums for baby crocodiles and alligators."Krokodille Zoo"
zoos.dk. Retrieved 15 December 2012.

References

External links

Krokodille Zoo
site in English {{authority control Buildings and structures in Falster Zoos in Denmark Tourist attractions in Denmark