First encounters

Shaun's fascination with crocodilians began at a very young age, but like most kids, the closest that he ever got to seeing them was on television. What really grabbed his attention was how close these large animals could get to their prey without being detected.

As he grew up, Shaun longed to be able to keep a crocodile, but believed that they could only be kept by zoos. He therefore decided to gain experience with other reptiles, and acquired a pair of bearded that stage. But after chatting with the shop dragons when he turned 18. This was soon assistant, he realised that this was the route followed by a ball (royal) python called Dave that he had to take, to pursue his dream of which he still has today.

As his experience, knowledge and confidence grew, so Shaun began to acquire larger snakes and lizards such as monitors. Then one day, he walked into a garden centre and there, right in front of him, was a Cuvier's dwarf caiman being offered for sale. Its enclosure had the sign "DWA holders only" written on it. To be frank, Shaun did not have a clue about what it meant at that stage. But after chatting with the assistant, he realised that this was the route that he had to take, to pursue his dream of keeping crocodilians. The very next morning therefore, he was down at his local council's offices, demanding as much information as possible about how he could obtain a Dangerous Wild Animals Act licence (DWAL) to keep crocodiles.

The council explained all the requirements and also told him that there was already two crocodilian keepers in his area. Two long years of research followed, during which Shaun contacted everyone he could, asking zoos for inside knowledge, carrying out countless internet searches and reading every relevant book, even if it just contained a single passage that referred to crocodilians.

A keeper called Mike in his area invited Shaun round to look at his set-up for his dwarf caimans. One of the group was being bullied by its companions. Impressed by Shaun's knowledge and dedication, Mike promised that if Shaun could get his DWAL, then he could have the bullied caiman free of charge.

Shaun soon got to work building his first-ever crocodilian enclosure in his living room of all places! Thankfully, the council were happy with it and granted him his DWAL, which allowed him to acquire the dwarf caiman. It marked a turning point in Shaun's life, and the start of what has become an all-consuming passion - the conservation of the world's 23 extant crocodilian species. The sex of this first caiman was unknown, but then in 2009, she laid a clutch of infertile eggs.