Crocodiles in the sewers may be an urban legend, but these creatures really look like it, according to a new study thrive in very similar waters. Indeed, in one of Central America’s most polluted rivers, a vulnerable crocodile species thrives despite living in practically sewage waters (or worse).
Between tyres, plastics and other “environmental horrors”Every day, garbage and wastewater from San Jose households and factories pours into the Tarcoles River, home to some 2,000 American crocodiles who have adapted to life in the toxic river.
“It’s a super contaminated area, but that hasn’t affected the crocodile populationsaid Ivan Sandoval, a biologist at the National University of Costa Rica.The Tarcoles River is the most polluted in Costa Rica and one of the most polluted in Central America. Heavy metals, nitrites, nitrates and a large amount of human waste can be found.“
The species present here, the Crocodylus acutusis considered “vulnerable”, but his number has increased in recent years and Costa Rica’s population is “healthy and robust”. Reptiles, to be precise, seem to be impassive in the face of the large number of polluting substances and beyond 150 types of bacteria which have been found in the watercourse.
These creatures are a great example of “resilience” – think that a colony lives inside a nuclear power plant – and it is no coincidence that they have been on Earth for more than 150 million years.
