Recently, Mykolaiv Zoo converted an enclosure for one of Africa's most fearsome carnivores.

This monster can weigh more than 500 kg (according to some reports, more than a ton)! The length of a huge carnivore can reach 6 meters! It eats everything that falls on its teeth, and can eat more than 20% of its weight at a time! In nature, in Africa, in adulthood, such giants can successfully attack zebras, antelopes, buffaloes, young hippopotamuses and rhinoceroses, giraffes, warthogs, hyenas, monkeys, felines, and pose a danger to humans! Endurance, dexterity, high speed and jaw power make this animal one of the most dangerous carnivores in Africa! Due to the area of residence, inhabited by people long ago, its size and strength, it has been known since ancient times, it has always been an object of fear and worship. This is a Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)!

A young Nile crocodile named Yasir is currently kept in Mykolaiv Zoo. Now, this is the only species of crocodile in our zoo. Yasir is still small. A year ago, when he was handed over to us, he weighed 15 kg and was 168 cm long. Then Yasir was placed in a small terrarium with a pool. And already in the summer of this year, when the crocodile was transferred to a new enclosure, it weighed 23 kg and was 186 cm long!

Although Yasir is young, he is a real carnivore, very active and toothy! The Nile crocodile eats, of course, food of animal origin, fish and meat. This animal is fed in the zoo every day, Yasir eats up to 0.5 kg of feed at a time.

Unlike our old-timer, the American alligator Vasya, who was an animal of respectable age, calm, docile and phlegmatic, Yasir is a young, tenacious and very agile crocodile. That is why Vasya's former enclosure had to be redone for a new resident, because the partitions in the enclosure, through which rather clumsy Vasya could not climb, are not an obstacle for the young Nile crocodile. The enclosure was rebuilt taking into account safety considerations, the pool was separated from the "land" by an additional grate, and the windows through which the animal is fed were barred. Yasir has a pool with warm water, additional lamps for heating.

In this enclosure everyone who is interested can now see the only representative of crocodiles in Mykolaiv Zoo – the Nile crocodile Yasir. The enclosure is located in the warm exhibition room of the primate department (hint for our regular visitors: this is the former enclosure of the American alligator Vasya).