A young Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer), a highly endangered species found only in a very limited area of Cuba, will be returned to its country of origin from Rome in late March, coinciding with the visit by Pope Benedict XVI. The Italian ambassador to Cuba, Marco Baccin, told Tierramérica that the young crocodile will be brought to Havana by a delegation from the Bioparco Foundation of Rome, headed up by the foundation’s president, Paolo Giuntarelli.

The crocodile is currently being housed in the Bioparco zoo after having been seized by wildlife authorities from a private home in an undisclosed location in northern Italy.

The crocodile nursery in Zapata Swamp, on the south coast of the western Cuban province of Matanzas, provides refuge for between 3,500 and 5,000 members of this species that has been almost wiped out by cross-breeding with the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and illegal hunting.