Bhubaneswar, July 20: Authorities of the Nandankanan Zoological Park today received five dwarf caiman crocodiles in exchange for four water monitor lizards from the Madras Crocodile Trust.

Officials of the Nandankanan zoo said the five reptiles (two males and three females) would increase the animal exchange value of the zoo once their breeding process was successful.

An official said this was the first time that the zoo had the dwarf caiman, a reptile that has it origins in South and Central America, for exhibition.

"These crocodiles are small in size and can attain a maximum length between one metre and 1.5 metres. These are also lighter due to their small size," said the zoo's deputy director Jayant Dash. The official said an adult caiman crocodile weighed around six to seven kilograms.

These reptiles were mostly found in South American countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela, said the official. "The crocodiles we have brought are aged around five years, and they can breed after one year. Once that is successful, we can exchange these species with other zoos under our animal exchange programme," he said.

At present, the zoo houses three Indian species of crocodile - gharial, mugger and baula (Odia for saltwater crocodile). Besides, it also has Morelet's crocodile, which is known as Mexican crocodile or Siamese crocodile. The zoo authorities successfully conducted a captive breeding of the Siamese crocodiles in 2010.

"The Siamese crocodiles have larger value in animal exchange programmes. We are hopeful of successful breeding of the dwarf caiman crocodiles, which would enable us to bring other animals to the zoo in exchange for them in the near future," said a zoo official.

Visitors said they were eagerly awaiting a glimpse of the zoo's new residents. "The reptile appears much smaller and lighter compared to other crocodiles when I went through its images on the Internet. It looks like a baby crocodile and it would be interesting to watch them," said Akash Behera, a student and frequent visitor to the zoo.

The zoo had registered a record footfall in 2015-16 with 33.19 lakh visitors thronging its premises. This was 14 per cent more than the previous year, which recorded 29.04 lakh visitors. The zoo, set up in 1960, has more than 2,000 animals belonging to more than 120 species.