{"id":421547,"date":"2026-10-07T21:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T21:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421547\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T21:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T21:04:11","slug":"crocodile-dies-of-apparent-lead-poisoning-in-floridas-first-known-case-fwc-says-nbc-6-south-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421547\/","title":{"rendered":"Crocodile dies of apparent lead poisoning in Florida\u2019s first-known case, FWC says \u2013 NBC 6 South Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

A crocodile that died in South Florida is believed to be the first in the state to die from apparent lead poisoning, wildlife officials said.<\/p>\n

Over 22 grams of lead were found in the American crocodile’s stomach after it unexpectedly died, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Research Institute said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

A recent study<\/a> found lead poisoning contributed to the croc’s death, the FWC said.<\/p>\n

According to the study, the crocodile had been captured in November 2023 after a Miami-Dade resident reported that it climbed into their swimming pool.<\/p>\n

The crocodile died during the routine capture and satellite transmitter attachment and researchers performed a field necropsy.<\/p>\n

During the necropsy, researchers found 22.42 grams of lead in the croc’s stomach, about the same weight as an AA battery.<\/p>\n

The lead included 23 air-rifle pellets, a fishing weight, and small lead fragments, officials said.<\/p>\n

Researchers also found the remains of at least one green iguana.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A:<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation CommissionFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission<\/p>\n

A: Lead contents recovered from the stomach of the
\ndeceased crocodile. B: Four green iguana (Iguana iguana)
\nclaws recovered from the stomach of the
\ndeceased crocodile<\/p>\n

It’s believed the croc was exposed to lead from multiple sources, with the air-rifle pellets likely swallowed as the crocodile scavenged iguana carcasses that had been shot.<\/p>\n

The fishing weight suggests additional sources of exposure, the study said.<\/p>\n

In addition, the croc had significant tooth loss, often associated with long-term lead exposure, and a high concentration of lead in its liver.<\/p>\n

“Researchers concluded that lead exposure likely weakened the crocodile\u2019s overall health and reduced its ability to withstand the stress of capture, contributing to its death,” the FWC said in a news release. “They also suggest it is likely additional crocodiles are being impacted, but the scale and scope of this problem are not yet fully known.”<\/p>\n

The discovery has prompted additional sampling for lead and other contaminants in American crocodiles throughout their Florida range, officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A crocodile that died in South Florida is believed to be the first in the state to die…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,373],"class_list":["post-421547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-miami-dade-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}