Richard Collins: No smiles for illegally released crocodile in Spain

The one-metre long yacare caiman was smuggled into Spain from South America. As it grew, the exotic pet probably became too difficult to keep at home, so its owner dumped it into the reservoir

Caiman in the Pantanal. Picture: Richard Collins 

I visited the Basque country this summer. Wildfire nightmares dominated the news there, but a curious ‘croc horror’ story was rather under the media radar. Boys had noticed a mysterious creature swimming in the waters of a popular bathing spot in Castilla La-Mancha.

Spain has the most diverse wildlife in Western Europe. Bears and wolves inhabit the Picos de Europa and a unique species of lynx is found only on the Iberian Peninsula. But the La Mancha creature was not any of these. Had the teenagers discovered a previously unknown species, to rival the famous lynx?