American Crocodile: The Everglades National Park

The Everglades National Park
"American Crocodile"
Kimmie Jordan
SCI230
10/10/2010
Shannon Kam

The Everglades National Park
"American Crocodile"

The Crocodylus acutus known as the American crocodile is a very large species it is known to grow as large as 6m. It is said that Florida has the largest crocodile with a size of 4.6m. The American crocodile is the only true crocodile found in the United States today. The region in which the American crocodile live in is located in south Florida within the Everglades National Park; it is the largest tract of wilderness land east of the Rocky Mountains. It protects the subtropical land and water any else in the United States today. The Everglades is home to the rarest and some of
the endangered species in the United States and the American Crocodile is one of those endangered species. The everglades are also home of the largest ecosystem in the whole western hemisphere in the world to date. But if you look at the everglades from a human perspective, it offers a very educational, recreational experience that is found in the world today. The everglades national park is a subtropical saw-grass marsh region and it covers about 4,300 sq mi. the water runs through Lake Okeechobee to the swamps bordering Gulf of Mexico and it has been established since 1947. The everglades are a very vast and somewhat flat surface seabed that was sunken at the end of the last ice age.
The charactertics of a crocodile has not changed much from the past to now in the 20th century.
Crocodiles are somewhat like humans they do have a backbone and lungs for them to breathe by. The crocodile have bony plates on their backs. When crocodiles are underwater in order for them to breathe they must come to the surface to get air and breathe. The crocodile can remain under water for an average of three to five minutes. While underwater the crocodile lungs are kept closed off by a valve located in their pipes. Just as humans the crocodile has a heart that in which has four chambers. The crocodile are cold-blooded animals and there are no lips located on their huge mouth. Most crocodiles are dark gray or green in color. The crocodile ca grows as long as thirteen to eighteen feet long. The crocodile bodies are a cigar-shaped and their hides are very tough. The average crocodile can live for an average of fifty years. The average crocodile can weigh an average of 1350 pounds. Their legs and tail are huge and very powerful. Their feet are partially webbed and have long nails. Crocodiles use their tails to capture food. Amazingly crocodile has a good sense of hearing and
smelling.
The biological interrelationships among the life forms in the everglades. I think it’s all about protecting the coral reefs. The coral reefs ecosystem has to have special attention due to protecting the natural heritage of the coral reef. Despite the efforts and values the corals reefs are slowly and rapidly being degrade. The degradation and destruction of the coral reefs have varied sources and many economic impacts of the coral reef protection. There are some local threats to the coral reefs such as: sewage pollution, people over fishing, and the destruction of it.
The process of species evolution has taken hundreds of years and it has accelerated through the years. Today in the world because of man and there careless and unconcerning ways they are now being threaten. Due to the man want for land and the raw material their habitat has been threaten. Another cause of the American crocodile being extinct is the pollution and the excessive hunting for the skin of the crocodile for purses and shoes. I think some of the protection that are being done to safeguard and preserve this species in by replenishing physical charactertics and maintain the crocodile’s habitat and mostly of all controlling the encounters in which they have with humans. America’s population is the motivating force behind the dilapidation of the wetlands in the United States. The people are growing by 2.6 million each year and each human being needs living space, farmland, timber, and water. Since each individual requires so much too live, the combined impact is massive. This gigantic decline in the nation’s natural habitat not only hurts mother earth but the human population as well. A most important cause that this species is in its present situation is because it produces a commercially valuable hide, and much of its past population decline can be attributed to a period of severe commercial overexploitation that occurred from the 1930s into the 1960s. Unfortunately As sea level rises due to type of weather change, a significant segment of crocodiles’ coastal wetland surroundings may face saltwater incursion or inundation. I think what I and the public can do to help with preserving the everglades in every way possible.
We must not hunt the animal and try to kill them and use their skin and hide for designer purses and designer shoes. This is a animal yes that will hurt you if they feel threaten in any way. So just leaving the animal alone and let it be able to live its life as you would want to live yours. I believe that they have the right to live a productive life as we want to. You has people can also help by adopting an animal in your local state. The federal government has passed many new laws and acts today to help protect and preserve the American crocodile. These laws are as follow: The Endangered Species Act, the Florida Endangered and Threaten Species act which are design and set up for people to follow guidelines this
rules.