Biologist Safonov recalled the illegality of keeping crocodiles at home

Biologist Dmitry Safonov said that keeping crocodiles at home is illegal, inhumane and dangerous.

Since September 2025, the list of animals prohibited for keeping at home has been updated, and crocodiles of all types are included in this list.

Violation of the ban on keeping crocodiles entails administrative liability, and the animal is confiscated.

MOSCOW, October 5 - RIA Novosti. Keeping a crocodile as a pet, regardless of its size, is illegal, inhumane and dangerous to human life, biologist Dmitry Safonov told RIA Novosti.

Earlier, information appeared on Telegram channels that Russians began to more often own crocodiles instead of pets.

“Keeping a crocodile at home is illegal, dangerous and inhumane. This is not some fashionable pet that someone wants to have, even if the crocodile is small now, it will still be a large predator that will require professional care from us and pose a threat to life,” the biologist emphasized.

Safonov recalled that from September 1, 2025, the list of animals prohibited for keeping at home was updated. The ban is in effect until 2031, and its violation entails administrative liability, and the animal, if detected, is confiscated.

“Crocodiles are directly included in this list, and the ban applies to absolutely all species and regardless of their size - large or small. It is, of course, impossible to keep a crocodile in an apartment or in a private house, even if it is small, fits in the palm of your hand, and was bought in some pet store by hand,” the specialist said.

According to him, for example, caimans reach an average size of one and a half to two meters, and large species reach about five to seven meters. And they live for more than 100 years. As a result, in a few years the purchased cub will become an uncontrollable giant that will need special conditions of detention - not the terrarium in which it was initially placed, but a full-fledged pool, Safonov clarified.