THE EDITOR, Sir:
WE WOULD like to address Mr. Charles Swaby's partial quote, in The Gleaner of November 13, stating: "I would like them to come forward and tell me when the animal escaped and which animal it is," he maintained, adding that any reptile sighted might be one of several which roam freely in the Montego Bay Marine Park."
We have spoken to Mr. Swaby regarding this comment, and he has said that did not intend to infer that the Montego Bay Marine Park is infested with crocodiles, as it sounds like in this paraphrasing of his words.
The Bogue Lagoon wildlife sanctuary area, a portion of the Montego Bay Marine Park, is a good quality mangrove wetland area, such that it has always been a crocodile habitat and does play host to animals from time to time, including an animal reported several times earlier this year.
In referring to the animals as "roaming freely", Mr. Swaby was referring to their ability to move from place to place along the coast. If an area of good habitat containing a crocodile is disturbed, from the building of a highway through its wetland home, for example, then the animal can and will move down the coast to the next available area of reasonable living space: be that the Bogue Lagoon or the Falmouth morass behind Mr. Swaby's Crocodile Safari Park.
It is irresponsible for any environmental organisation or media to report these animals as not naturally occurring on the North Coast of Jamaica, as this article implies by suggesting that the animal in question must have escaped. They are not common, they are in fact an endangered and protected species in Jamaica, but they are about and are quite mobile. People in Falmouth, or in any crocodile habitat or wetland area should not be afraid of these areas or animals, but should be aware of the potential crocodile presence and maintain appropriate nature education and vigilance as a result.
These animals are a part of the Jamaican natural landscape, and should be respected and appreciated, if not revered as such.
They are an animal to know and to be proud of as a Jamaican.
I am, etc.,
ANDREW ROSS
MBMP Science Dept.
Montego Bay Marine Park
