The Crocodile Zoo () is a

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

on the Danish 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 northeast of

Eskilstrup Eskilstrup is a town some north of Nykøbing Falster on the Danish island of Falster. As of 2024, it had a population of 1,082. History Eskilstrup Church, built in the Romanesque style, dates from the 12th century. In accordance with local t ...

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

crocodilians Crocodilia () is an order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles that are known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorph pseudosuchi ...

(

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), 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 more loosely to include ...

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

caiman A caiman ( (also spelled cayman) from Taíno language, Taíno ''kaiman'') is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family (biology), family, the other being alligators. ...

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

and relatives) with almost all existing species (24 species, same as St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park). 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 in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and ce ...

''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 Pythonidae, python species native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of largest snakes, longest snake, and the list of largest snakes, third heaviest snake. I ...

, is among the largest snakes in Europe. Although primarily focussed on crocodilians, the zoo is also home to

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

(puma),

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through Northeast India and Bhutan to mainland Southeast Asia into South China. It w ...

tayra The tayra (''Eira barbara'') is an omnivorous animal from the mustelid family, native to the Americas. It is the only species in the genus ''Eira''. Tayras are also known as the ''tolomuco'' or ''perico ligero'' in Central America, ''motete'' ...

, callitrichid monkeys,

six-banded armadillo The six-banded armadillo (''Euphractus sexcinctus''), also known as the yellow armadillo, is an armadillo found in South America. The sole extant member of its genus, it was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The six-b ...

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and West African Nile monitor, one species is also found in south America as an invasive species. A ...

iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti, J.N. Laurenti in ...

s, hydrosaurs,

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

s, and

giant tortoise Giant tortoises are any of several species of various large land tortoises, which include a number of extinct species, as well as two extant species with multiple subspecies formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the ...

History and partners

Founded by Rene Hedegaard, it is the largest zoo of its kind in Europe. Developed in cooperation with Bøgecentret, the zoo opened to the public in June 2000. The Crocodile Zoo works closely with conservation authorities and other zoos. A portion of each sold admission ticket is contributed towards conservation projects conducted by the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group. All crocodilians in the zoo come from prior captivity. Crocodile Zoo participates in several breeding programs, and coordinates the European programs for the

black caiman The black caiman (''Melanosuchus niger'') is a crocodilian reptile endemic to South America. With a maximum length of around and a mass of over , it is the largest living species of the family Alligatoridae, and the third-largest crocodilian in ...

and

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

.KrokodilleZoo
Krokodillebevarelse.
Retrieved 23 April 2017. Their

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 Venezuela and Colombia. Extensively hunted for their skins in the 19t ...

s are part of a program involving US zoos, the FUDECI foundation (which is responsible for releasing Orinoco crocodiles to the wild) and the Venezuelan authorities.Folketidende
"Zoo har nu alle verdens krokodillearter"
Retrieved 6 March 2013.

Exhibits

The Crocodile Zoo is located at an old former farm in the countryside and provides a good opportunity to see the difference between crocodiles, alligators, caimans, gharial and their relatives. Crocodilians are inactive most of the time but with so many species, at least one of them is likely to be active during a visit."Krokodille Zoo"
zoos.dk. Retrieved 15 December 2012. The crocodilians are housed in species-specific enclosures with plants and artificial cliffs, some sharing their exhibits with

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

s. They were formerly housed within one building (some of the more temperature tolerant species are outside when the weather permits), but in 2023 a new tropical hall was opened to provide additional space. As of 2023, 18 of their 24 crocodilian species had bred at the zoo, which is more than any other facility in the world. Among the 24 species of crocodilians that are on display are the only Orinoco crocodiles outside of the Americas. Although mainly focussed on crocodilians, the zoo is also home to a number of other animals, including clouded leopards since 2014 (first bred 2019), cougars since 2019 (first bred 2023) and tayras since 2020 (first bred 2020), being the only Danish zoo exhibiting any of these three species, as well as callitrichid monkeys, parrots and various reptiles such as giant tortoises.

References

External links

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