Video footage of a crocodile escaping after breaking a zoo van’s window has gone viral on the internet.
Uploaded on Facebook by St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, a local zoo in Florida, the video shows zookeepers, Karsyn and Gen, attempting to restrain a crocodile on the road while another zookeeper holds it back with a rope. The video also displays a zoo van with its doors open, and several pedestrians witnessing the situation.
“Earlier today, we were relocating crocodilians to another area of the zoo. They were secured and placed into our zoo van. This animal broke the back window of the van and made a dash down the road. Our crew acted quickly to recapture it, and deliver it safely to its new enclosure.” read the caption of the post.
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“At no time was there any real danger as the animal’s mouth was secured. Our crew acted quickly to recapture it, and deliver it safely to its new enclosure. At no time was there any real danger as the animal’s mouth was secured,” it added.
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The park said that due to high chances of such mishaps, zookeepers are given “extensive training and perform drills.”
The incident took place on February 22. While zoo officials did not confirm what species the crocodile belonged to, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park is home to more than 24 crocodilian species and over 800 alligators.
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This isn’t the first time that zookeepers at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park have had mishaps with reptiles at the zoo. In 2020, Jim Darlington, a reptiles curator at the park, was severely wounded after being attacked in the park’s swamp area where over 200 alligators resided. Darlington had been in the area to look for lost camera equipment. According to First Coast News, Darlington required a “bunch of stitches” after an alligator ripped his arm out.