A young Cuban veterinary student and animal rescuer has become a topic of conversation on social media after posting a video on Instagram in which she pets her freshly bathed crocodile and seriously warns that no one should attempt to keep a pet like hers at home.
Lorena Montes Peña, known on Instagram as @loorena_mp_, shows in the clip the legs of the reptile and the soft area of the animal while handling it with apparent calm.
Far from boasting about the feat, the young woman was blunt in her description of the post: "I do not recommend or encourage having one at home; in fact, the opposite is true—don't believe it's anything nice or easy."
Lorena shared that her crocodile is named "Marpacífico" and described him as "an indestructible killing machine, physically capable of doing anything and escaping from wherever he is."
Regarding the raising of an animal with such characteristics, he added: "Definitely better not to get involved in those matters, I say this from experience."
In the video, the young woman explains that the level of handling she achieved with the crocodile was the result of months of work. "That didn't happen overnight. It's complicated; you have to study animal training methods thoroughly. There are several, and with a lot of patience, I was able to get him to be like this with me, of course, as I am his caregiver."
What Lorena does not specify at any point is how she feeds the reptile or what conditions she keeps it in within her home. She has several videos with it, even sleeping next to her in bed.
Beyond the charm of the pet crocodile, the case raises legal and safety questions. In Cuba, there are two protected species of crocodile: the Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer), which is endemic and classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus).
Both species are protected by Cuban legislation and by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
It's not the first time that Cubans have had unexpected encounters with these reptiles. In April 2026, several residents in Florida jumped into the water to swim after spotting a crocodile in the area. In July, a Cuban prevented a tragedy by discovering one under similar circumstances.
Experts insist that crocodiles are not domesticated: they can be conditioned to tolerate human handling, but their predatory instinct never disappears, which makes them high-risk animals even for trained caregivers.
A follower of Lorena summed it up straightforwardly in the comments: "I'm just saying you should pray that it never runs away from you, because it's better to give it to anyone than to let it ruin your face. I'm not criticizing; it's your pet, but this is no joke."
The young rescuer and veterinary student has other pets at home, such as dogs, cats, and an iguana, from which she also shares content, but none receive as many likes as her crocodile.
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