‘Elusive’ crocodile-like creatures hatched for first time at Tennessee zoo. See them

Two “elusive” creatures named for their crocodile-like appearance have been hatched at an accredited zoo for the first time, the Tennessee facility said.

Nashville Zoo announced the historic hatching of two crocodile tegus on June 17.

The crocodile tegus are hard to come by, so when the zoo’s team got the opportunity to bring in tegus and breed them, they jumped at the chance, according to herpetology keeper Katie Gregory.

“I think for almost any zookeeper, it’s really exciting to get a species that nobody has ever worked with,” Gregory told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

She called crocodile tegus a “unique” and “charismatic” species that loves to hang around the water. The semi-aquatic lizards native to the Amazon basin have powerful tails that make them strong swimmers, experts say.

“Not much is known about this elusive species and being able to breed them in a zoo setting will help us learn more about them and their reproductive biology,” zookeepers said in a release.

Not only are the species uncommon among legal reptile traders in the U.S., they’re also disappearing from their natural habitat, Gregory said.

“A lot of people will only ever see these species in zoos because they’re declining so rapidly in the wild,” Gregory said. “So we want people to be able to see them for generations. If we can do that in zoos, more power to it.”

The creatures, known for their colorful beauty as babies, can grow up to four feet in length, according to the zoo.

A sign that the animals are faring well is they feel safe enough to reproduce, Gregory said. For the herpetology team, taking good care of the animals is the goal.

“The biggest reward for us as zookeepers is making them the happiest and the most comfortable that they could possibly be,” she said.

The team is currently incubating additional eggs, so more baby tegus may be on the way.