Clever croc ‘target trained’ at Bronx Zoo in Animal Planet show

Leapin’ lizards — this crocodile does tricks!

Wild footage shows a zookeeper training a crocodile to tap objects with her scaly snout in exchange for treats during a yet-to-be aired Animal Planet TV show about life behind the scenes at the Bronx Zoo.

In a clip from the show “The Zoo,” which airs Saturday, Penelope the Cuban crocodile is shown sinking her teeth into “target training”  with zookeeper Andrew Kathriner — who blows a whistle prompting her to gently place her nose against a pole in her watery enclosure.

When the croc completes the trick, Kathriner tosses her a dead mouse as a “reward” and says “good girl!”

“It’s important to train these animals both from a physical and a mental standpoint,” Kathriner says in the footage. “Mentally, these animals are learning behaviors, and it’s important physically because they’re actually moving around.”

The goal of the training is to make it safer for people to work with the rare and dangerous species, which is found only in the Zapata Swamp in the southwest corner of the country, according to a rep from Animal Planet.

“The Zoo,” which airs at 8 p.m. starting Saturday, May 23,  also features footage of an spunky Amur leopard at the venerable Bronx institution.