Since an American tourist was attacked by a crocodile in Tamarindo, both local municipal authorities and government have carried out some measures to alert people about the presence of these animals. As a result, they have placed signs in the sand to warn about how dangerous the Conservation Area is.
Urs Schmid, Community Association’s president, explained that there are five signs so far.
Guadalupe Hernández, a resident of the area, is concerned because according to her, that is not the best option: signs are near the beach and waves hit them.
The president of the association said that even though it means to repeat the procedure every other time, at the moment the only solution is to bury them in the sand.
The signs are small and they have general information such as swimming in the estuary in prohibited. Others give instructions regarding the care of dogs: in order to prevent attacks, people can’t leave them near the shore. There is another sign that states that it is not allowed to feed crocodiles.
The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) explained that it is working on four specific tasks to address the issue of coexistence with crocodiles. These include conducting community workshops, environmental awareness
campaigns, coordination with universities to determine the population of crocodiles in the area and measures to minimize the risk of a new attack.