The Spectacled Caiman

The Spectacled Caiman is related to the alligator, but it is smaller than the alligators found in the US and does not pose a threat to humans. The Caiman occupies lowland wetlands, rivers, marshes, ponds and even water filled roadside ditches of the Caribbean and Pacific slopes. Prey consists of fish and amphibians, though other kinds of wildlife may be eaten as carrion.  Newly hatched caimans eat insects and they in their turn are eaten by Jabirus, Wood Storks, Great Egrets and Raccoons. Adult caimans have no predators except for human poachers. Their nesting occurs mainly during February and March.  Females lay and bury twenty to forty eggs in a nest mound near the water’s edge. The eggs hatch after seventy-five days and the young are defended by their parents for at least four months after hatching.

Near the Lapa Rios office in Puerto Jimenez is a small pond which, often times, has many of these caimans.  During your next visit, be sure to ask your driver to stop and check them out!