Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
  • Home
  • About
    • Blog
    • Contact Us
    • Jobs
    • Press
  • Guest Info
    • Accessibility
    • Calendar
    • COVID Guidelines
    • For Kids >
      • Coloring Pages
      • Zoo Patrol
      • Zoo Tots
    • Our Animals >
      • Eastern Rat Snake
    • Our Plants
    • Parents
    • Zoo Cams >
      • Outdoor Red Panda Cam
      • Indoor Red Panda Cam
      • Outdoor Spider Monkey Cam
      • Indoor Spider Monkey Cam
      • Otter Cam
    • Zoo Etiquette
    • Zoo Map
  • Membership
  • Education
    • Citizen Science >
      • FrogWatch
      • MonarchWatch
    • Conservation >
      • City Nature Challenge
      • Conservation Pledge
    • Cool Blue >
      • Cool Blue Schools
    • Programs
    • Educational Resources
    • Evening Lectures
    • Field Trips
    • Just 4 Teens >
      • CDC
      • Explorers
    • Teachers
  • Support
    • Animal Sponsorship
    • Appeal
    • Corporate Support
    • Donate
    • Events
    • Gift Guide
    • Honor & Remember
    • Monthly Giving
    • Naming Opportunities
    • Wish List
  • Parties, Rentals & Weddings
    • Birthdays
    • Private Events
    • Weddings
    • Rates and Details
    • Preferred Vendors
    • Preferred Wedding Vendors
    • Event Guidelines
  • Volunteer
    • Interns
  • En Espanol
  • Buy Tickets

Yacare Caiman (Caiman yacare)

Picture
Description:
Although they superficially resemble American alligators, Yacare caiman are brownish, medium-sized caiman up to 10 feet in length with a more triangular snout and toothier profile than their American cousins.

Habitat:
Rivers, lakes and other wetlands, especially those with floating mats of vegetation.

Range:
Northern Argentina, southern Brazil, Southern Bolivia and Paraguay.

Diet:
Aquatic invertebrates (particularly snails), fish, snakes and other vertebrates.

Life Span:
Unknown but likely 50 years or more based upon life spans of related crocodilians.

Family Life:
During the rainy season (which varies with locality), adult females construct mound nests of rotting vegetation and mud. They lay 21 to 38 eggs in a chamber inside the mound. Females guard the nest for several weeks during incubation unless hunting pressure forces them to abandon the eggs. The caiman hatchlings are precocious, meaning they must fend for themselves and receive little or no parental care.

Status:
Generally stable and at low risk of endangerment, but many historical populations have been depleted.
​South America’s Yacare Caiman are also known as Jacare caiman, Paraguayan caiman, Red caiman and Piranha caiman to name a few. Although these ancient and amazing creatures do eat piranha, they are sometimes called Piranha caiman because their lower teeth are easily visible like those of their pointy-toothed fish neighbors. While all crocodilians (alligators, crocodiles, caiman and gharials) eat fish, many species focus on certain prey species. Yacare caiman search mats of floating vegetation for aquatic snails, crack open the shells with their crushing jaws and dissolve the shell fragments with their powerful stomach acids.

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo exhibits caiman in the Tropical Rainforest Building.
Picture
Picture
Rainforest Building open daily from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm
PRESS
JOBS
CONTACT US
EN ESPANOL
​203-394-6565
​info@beardsleyzoo.org 
1875 Noble Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06610
Open 9am-4pm daily
​Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is dedicated to acquainting a diverse public to the delicate balance that exists between living things and their environment.

Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo is a 501(c)(3) not for profit owned and operated by the Connecticut Zoological Society.

2019 Kids Out and About #1
Association of Zoos & Aquariums
Connecticut - Still Revolutionary
Weekly Best of Fairfield County Readers' Poll 2014
FC Buzz Events - Arts & Culture of Fairfield County
© 2022 Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
  • Home
  • About
    • Blog
    • Contact Us
    • Jobs
    • Press
  • Guest Info
    • Accessibility
    • Calendar
    • COVID Guidelines
    • For Kids >
      • Coloring Pages
      • Zoo Patrol
      • Zoo Tots
    • Our Animals >
      • Eastern Rat Snake
    • Our Plants
    • Parents
    • Zoo Cams >
      • Outdoor Red Panda Cam
      • Indoor Red Panda Cam
      • Outdoor Spider Monkey Cam
      • Indoor Spider Monkey Cam
      • Otter Cam
    • Zoo Etiquette
    • Zoo Map
  • Membership
  • Education
    • Citizen Science >
      • FrogWatch
      • MonarchWatch
    • Conservation >
      • City Nature Challenge
      • Conservation Pledge
    • Cool Blue >
      • Cool Blue Schools
    • Programs
    • Educational Resources
    • Evening Lectures
    • Field Trips
    • Just 4 Teens >
      • CDC
      • Explorers
    • Teachers
  • Support
    • Animal Sponsorship
    • Appeal
    • Corporate Support
    • Donate
    • Events
    • Gift Guide
    • Honor & Remember
    • Monthly Giving
    • Naming Opportunities
    • Wish List
  • Parties, Rentals & Weddings
    • Birthdays
    • Private Events
    • Weddings
    • Rates and Details
    • Preferred Vendors
    • Preferred Wedding Vendors
    • Event Guidelines
  • Volunteer
    • Interns
  • En Espanol
  • Buy Tickets