Picture of the Day: Mint croc dip

(JAIRO CASTILLA/REUTERS)

Rarely are photographers met with subjects that are just as snap-happy as themselves, but they met their match in northern Colombia on Saturday when 800 baby alligators – that adds up to an awful lot of teeth – were released into the wild.

They are the first batch of 7,000 of the creatures that will be getting used to life in their natural habitat in the next six months, after being set free at the village of Barranco de Loba village in the province of Bolivar in the northern part of the country.

The two-year old creatures, which measure between 75 and 90cm long, were hatched at the "zoocriadero," a local animal breeding facility. Their new home is the country's largest river, the Magadena, but not all of their fellow residents are particularly happy about the project.

As well as fears that the introduction of the animals will unbalance the local ecosystem, there are also worries that they could harm the local economy by competing with fishermen for the traditional local catch: herring.