Sudwala gets new resident
Greta, a three metre long crocodile at Sudwala Dinosaur Park, recently received a male crocodile as a companion.
SUDWALA – Greta, a three metre long crocodile at Sudwala Dinosaur Park, recently received a male crocodile as a companion.
Greta was born in the Pretoria Aquarium and has been a resident of this park since 1991. The reptile was less than a metre in size when she arrived. She stayed with a big male crocodile called Jurra, which was moved from the Pretoria Zoo because he was being targeted by the other crocodiles.
He was very small when he arrived, but he recovered quickly at Sudwala and this pair seemed to be extremely fond of each other, often lying next to each other and making contact.
It was a sad day when the male crocodile passed away a few years ago. Greta was left alone and seemingly unhappy and aggressive. They then tried to introduce other crocodiles to
Greta, but she was very aggressive and the attempt was unsuccessful as she did not allow other crocodiles into her territory.
In consultation with the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), the SudwalaDinosaur Park directors resolved to establish a new crocodile enclosure, with the intention to move Greta, together with other crocodiles, into a new and unfamiliar space.
This action was initialised on December 19 and the resident, a 1.8m male crocodile, then arrived at Sudwala. There was some anxious moments on the first day, when the bigger female chased down the male a few times, grabbing its tale twice. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt.
According to Chris Hopkirk from MTPA, this behaviour could be a show of dominance by the female. Since the first anxious day, the crocodiles seemed to ignore each other, but both are 
