Short Communication |
Corresponding author: Alex M. Cubas-Rodríguez ( alexmcubas@gmail.com ) Academic editor: José Monzón Sierra
© 2024 Alex M. Cubas-Rodríguez, Fabio G. Cupul-Magaña.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Cubas-Rodríguez AM, Cupul-Magaña FG (2024) A record of a non-fatal attack of an American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in the “Rio Segovia” on the Honduras-Nicaragua border. In: Lipińska M, Lopez-Selva MM, Sierra JM (Eds) Biodiversity research in Central America. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 19(2): 113-116. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.19.e120434
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A case of a non-fatal crocodile attack on a human was reported on the banks of the Segovia River on the Honduras and Nicaragua border. The 12-year-old girl survived the attack, only with damage to the tibia of her right leg, where she lost part of the muscle tissue due to the bite. It was after the attack that the American crocodile was shot and killed by local people. In this paper, we discuss the possible causes of crocodile attacks.
Bite, Central America, Crocodylia, human-crocodile conflict, stroke
Crocodylus acutus is the only species of crocodile distributed in Honduras and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES (
During recent years, multiple interactions with humans have been documented, mostly related to hunting for their skins, for human consumption, or for fear of its terrifying image. The latter is probably related to events or negative experiences that involve crocodiles attacking people (
The attack on a 12-year-old girl occurred on September 24, 2023 (14.3873, -85.2070; 149 m elevation) on the banks of the Segovia River, carrying out the activity of washing clothes. When she went in to drink water, she did not notice the presence of a crocodile (they are common in this area). When a couple passed by, people near the place where the victim was found reported that the crocodile, approximately 2 m long, approached silently, taking the victim’s tibia of the right leg by surprise. At that moment, the girl reacted and began to run, which caused part of the flesh on the calf to be detached from her leg. Throughout a couple of minutes, some gunshots were heard coming from the place where the victim was. At that moment, we realized that the crocodile was killed (Fig.
This type of conflict between crocodiles and humans in Honduras has not been fully documented; however, there are some records available in the literature. For example, Cubas-Rodriguez and Cupul-Magaña (2023) recorded the death of a crocodile for feeding on cattle that drank water on the banks of the river. There is also another one given by Cubas-Rodriguez et al. (2023b), where they mention the death of a Caiman crocodilus due to being run over on the road (Fig.
In the literature, there are many records that mention that these events usually occur frequently in or on the shores of the water, in places with restricted access or risk areas due to the presence of crocodiles, and that they could be related to the increased population of reptiles, destruction of the habitat, and growth of the urban fence in areas surrounding where these imposing crocodiles rest (
We wish to express our gratitude to Luis Fernando Cuadra and Andrea Rodríguez for all their help in compiling the information reflected in this scientific contribution. Our most sincere thanks to the reviewers who helped enrich this work.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
No ethical statement was reported.
No funding was reported.
Conceptualization: FGCM, AMCR. Formal analysis: AMCR. Investigation: AMCR. Methodology: FGCM, AMCR.
Alex M. Cubas-Rodríguez https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6426-1101
Fabio G. Cupul-Magaña https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3832-234X
All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text.