Crocodile on campus creates concern, caution

Once endangered, American crocodiles are multiplying.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — On a typical spring afternoon on the leafy campus of the University of Miami, many of the 15,000 students are in class, others are romping around the athletic field, and a few are seeing how close they can get to a 6-foot American crocodile sunbathing with its mouth open.

“They apparently don’t realize how dangerous this thing is,” said security guard Roberto Heredia as he warned curious collegians away from the toothy reptile. “Some people think it’s fake.”

School officials, including President Donna Shalala, want the crocodile to be expelled.

The problem: “We can’t catch him,” said university Police Chief David Rivero. “We’re playing a cat-and-mouse game with this croc.”

There may be more than one crocodile on campus. Heredia, 52, often assigned to baby-sit animals that crawl out of Lake Osceola, said there are at least three, ranging in size up to 8 feet.

Rivero said he believes all but one croc has been locked out of the lake by new fences and grates being installed at points where canals link the lake to the Gables waterways and Biscayne Bay.

What is clear is that the population of once-endangered American crocodiles is growing. Last year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the reptiles’ status from endangered to threatened, meaning a species once on the brink of extinction is now only likely to become endangered.

As their numbers increase — from an estimated 200 when declared endangered in 1975 to more than 2,000 today — crocodiles expand their range. And the range includes a sunny strip of grass just a few feet from the Rathskeller, a popular on-campus bar and grill.

Lake Osceola serves as the scenic heart of University of Miami’s richly landscaped campus, and around it are many inviting places to sit, read and contemplate. The lake is also surrounded by busy walkways, and when a crocodile is out sunning, several hundred students are bound to notice.

“I wanted to go down there,” said Briana Grazioso, 19, a freshman from Delray Beach, Fla., and one of many students Heredia kept away from the crocodile last week.

“Not to pet it. Just to see,” explained her twin, Lauren.

Last week, Heredia said he saw a campus visitor approach a basking crocodile and lift up its tail while a friend took his picture. “If that thing grabs him with its mouth, what it’ll do is pull them into the water and start turning over and over in circles until the person drowns or it tears off an arm or something,” Heredia said.

Signs posted along the lake urge caution and advise that it is “unlawful to feed or harass” crocodiles.

But warnings may only heighten the appeal of the fearsome beasts.

“The idea that they can survive in Miami is fascinating,” said Eric Hurley, 19, who finds no crocs in his New Jersey hometown.

The resident University of Miami crocs also have gained some fame on YouTube. In a video posted in February, the student television station got film of a nighttime commotion when a crocodile crossed a main campus street, and then fought with another croc when it returned to the water.