Dwarf Crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) Fact Sheet: Managed Care

Current Population Size

• North American Zoological Collections
  • O. tetraspis
    • 63 individuals, as of 2012 (from Vliet et al. 2012)
    • 15 males, 24 females, and 24 indeterminate
    • Housed in 24 institutions
  • O. t. osborni
    • No definitive records of Congo Dwarf Crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni) in North America (Trutnae and Sommerlad 2006; ZIMS 2015)
• European Zoological Collections
  • 187 individuals, as of 2013 (from Schmidt 2013)
    • 58 males, 68 females, 61 indeterminate
    • 62.6% bred in managed care(23 males, 34 females, 60 indeterminate)
  • O. t. osborni (Schmidt 2013, Franke et al. 2013)
    • One male from Santillana Zoo, Spain
  • O. t. tetraspis (Schmidt 2013)
    • 38 males, 36 females, 46 indeterminate (44 institutions)
  • West African form (Schmidt 2013)
    • 7 males, 11 females
  • Hybrid individuals
    • 9 males, 14 females, 14 indeterminate (21 institutions)
  • Individuals untested for genetic differentiation
    • 3 males, 7 females, 1 indeterminate (7 institutions)

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

• Current population
  • San Diego Zoo
    • 5 individuals housed at the zoo, as of February 2015 (from ZIMS 2015)
      • 4 females and 1 male

History in Managed Care

• Historical notes
  • Early records (from ZIMS 2015)
    • 1908: first individual, a female, housed at the Philadelphia Zoo
  • Managed breeding (from Trutnae and Sommerlad 2006; ZIMS 2015)
    • Rare prior to 1970
      • Several institutions began successful breeding programs in the 1970s and 1980s
        • Ueno Zoo, Tokyo
        • Fort Worth Zoo, Texas
        • Metropolitan Toronto Zoo, Toronto
        • Overton Park Zoo, Memphis (TN)

West African Dwarf Crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis), Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Image credit: © Ryan Poplin at Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Franke et al. (2013)
Schmidt (2013)
Trutnae and Sommerlad (2006)
Vliet et al. (2012)
ZIMS (2015)