The Tarcoles River is home to around 50 to 60 crocodiles; many tourists make a stop on the bridge here, known as “the crocodile bridge” to take pictures of these impressive animals.

However, the health of the reptiles has been a concern for quite some time, as locals have reported the crocodiles are very thin and apparently malnourished. This past Monday one of them was captured with the purpose of running tests to get additional information on their overall health conditions.

Juan Bolaños, a Costa Rican biologist and crocodile expert of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, explained to national news site CRHOY that he has been studying these reptiles for over 30 years, but it was two years ago that they started receiving alerts from people in the Tarcoles area, and particularly tourist guides from the Crocodile Man Tour, about the health concerns of the crocodiles in this region. He is now working hand in hand with the Conservation Area of the Central Pacific.

Bolaños explained that it is too early to be able to provide accurate answers, they will have to do more research and run different tests, “we can’t give a reason without investigating, this could take up to six months”.

Hypothetically, however, it is possible that the fact that many tourists have a bad habit of feeding the crocodiles could be affecting their health; contamination of the river or insufficient food in the area for all existing crocodiles are also possibilities.