Florida’s New Predator Isn’t a Python — And Scientists Say It’s Already Here

https://vernadiscovery.com 🐊 The Comeback Files: my guide to twelve American animals that came back from almost nothing, with the real counts and the sources. Bald eagles, elk, condors, wolves, and more. Online, you will hear that African man-eaters have been breeding in Florida for fifteen years. The scientific paper behind the story says something very different. Here is what DNA, a federal risk review, and a tagged crocodile in the Everglades actually show. In April 2009, a baby Nile crocodile turned up on a porch in Miami. In March 2012, scientists caught a young female in a Homestead canal and, under federal rules, had to release her. Two years later she was found again inside Everglades National Park, almost twice the size. This video follows the 2016 University of Florida study that confirmed Nile crocodiles had been introduced in southern Florida, what their DNA says about where they came from, why researchers needed federal permission to remove one, what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded in 2022, and what is still unknown. In this video you'll learn: - How four Nile crocodiles were found in Florida between 2000 and 2014 - Why scientists had to let one go, and how she was found again two years later - What DNA shows about where the crocodiles came from, and why the pet trade is the likely route - Why a growth rate "28% faster" is less alarming than it sounds - What the paper says about "fifteen years of breeding," and what the evidence does and does not show - How Florida's climate, cold snaps, and the native American crocodile fit into the risk - Whether a Nile crocodile has ever hurt anyone in Florida - What scientists would look for to know if there are more Everything here comes from the published research and agency reports. Where this video offers interpretation, it says so. Topics: Nile crocodile in Florida, Everglades invasive species, crocodile DNA, American crocodile, Everglades National Park, exotic pet trade, Endangered Species Act, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida wildlife. Please subscribe for more! It would mean the world to me. 😊 Verna Discovery looks at what happened after the headline. -Verna Chapters: 0:00 A baby crocodile on a Miami porch 1:04 Florida's introduced reptiles 2:44 The four crocodiles 3:58 The female they had to release 4:31 Found again in the Everglades 5:53 How fast she grew 6:45 What the DNA shows 8:55 Why they had to let her go 10:16 The "fifteen years of breeding" claim 11:19 Could they live in Florida for good? 13:04 Has one hurt anyone in Florida? 13:53 Are there more of them? #NileCrocodile #Everglades #InvasiveSpecies #FloridaWildlife