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Slide aside, Burmese python — you may no longer be Florida’s scariest invasive species. Researchers have confirmed that three Nile crocodiles were captured near Miami, and they say it’s possible more of the man-eating reptiles are still out there, although no one can say for sure.

The big question now: How did they get to Florida?

“They didn’t swim from Africa,” said Kenneth Krysko, who studies reptiles and amphibians at the University of Florida. “But we really don’t know how they got into the wild.”

Krysko and his co-authors just published a paper showing that DNA testing proved the three animals captured in 2009, 2011 and 2014 are Nile crocs, a species whose males grow to more than 16 feet long and weigh upward of 1,600 pounds.

Nile crocs are believed to be responsible for as many as 200 deaths annually in Africa, where they live south of the Sahara Desert. Compare that with an annual average of six reported shark attack deaths globally.

Krysko said the captured crocodiles are related to one another but are not related to captive Nile crocs held at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and other Florida attractions. That means the crocs probably were brought to Florida illegally by an unlicensed reptile collector who either didn’t contain them properly, allowing them to escape, or planted them in the Everglades in hopes they would multiply.

The Nile croc, if it became established in the Everglades, would pose another invasive threat to the region’s fragile ecosystem. They could endanger the smaller, less aggressive American crocodiles. They are also known to attack livestock, which would be bad news for cattle farms that border the Everglades.

Nile crocs may be dangerous, but crocodiles and alligators are more than man-eaters

Krysko and two co-authors, Joe Wasilewski and Frank Mazzotti, think more Nile crocs lurk unfound in the Everglades, but they aren’t certain.

Allyson Gantt, a spokeswoman for Everglades National Park, where one of the reptiles was found, disagrees, saying no Nile crocs still roam the park.

Some Everglades visitors might not be aware of the differences between crocodiles and alligators, complicating efforts to confirm any remaining crocs. Crocodiles have angular snouts, and their lower teeth are exposed when their mouths are closed. Alligator snouts are rounded, with few exposed lower teeth. Nile crocs are usually bronze or brownish yellow; alligators are blackish green.

Florida already has more nonnative amphibians and reptiles than any region worldwide, according to Krysko’s paper. They include Burmese pythons, a menace that quickly reproduced into the thousands and is hurting the Everglades’ small mammal population.

The paper said all Florida wetlands and coastal areas of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas would be hospitable to Nile crocodiles. They require freshwater, abundant prey and year-round warm weather.

“Doesn’t that sound like Florida?” Krysko said.

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