#mecistops

West African Slender-snouted Crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus), family Crocodylidae, found in West Africa

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

Today I had the great privilege of getting to pick up this beautiful specimen of the critically endangered Mecistops cataphractus from Denmark’s famous Krokodillezoo. It passed away on the night of the 19th of June, 2024, after a prolonged fight to keep it alive. The necropsy revealed a pathology that constricted the passage from the stomach into the small intestine so much that food couldn’t pass through, which explains its inability to keep food down, and ultimately its death.

I stopped by twice today and though during my first visit of the day she was just lazily resting in a corner of her pool, the second time around I got lucky enough to see her swimm around a bit. Despite a length of "only" 2.7 meters she's quite the impressive sight none the less.

I also managed to get a still image from just before I left when she settled in one of the shallower parts of her pool, nicely showing how dark her scales are. To my knowledge she is the fourth crocodilian species kept at the aquarium.

Pantserkrokodil by Pascal Halmingh on Flickr.

Slender Snouted Crocodile by Emmanuel Van Heygen on Flickr.