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Africa
Travel Newsletters > Crocs:
Harsh Masters of Africa's Rivers > Page 2
Like many animal species, males are usually
larger than females. For both sexes, maturity is a matter
of length rather than age. Males mature at 10 ft, and females
at 8 ft, which for both is usually at about 10 years of age.
Characteristic of masculine behaviour, males in a bid to attract
the finest females, will bellow and vocalize in a variety
of noises. They also beat the water with their snouts and
blow fountains of water from their nostrils. If a female is
impressed with the charade, she will accept to mate.
Mating takes place in the water, and two months
later the female lays her eggs in a nest that she digs out
on the water banks. They nestle between November and December,
which is the dry season up North and the rainy season down
South of the continent. The nest is usually about 50 cm deep,
and here she lays an average of 50 eggs, covering them with
sand to incubate for about 90 days.
The temperature at which the eggs are placed
determines the gender of the offspring. Those placed at temperatures
of between 31.7 and 34.5 degrees Celsius turn out to be males.
Those placed at any temperatures higher or lower will certainly
develop into females. Unlike other reptiles, the female croc
keeps guard over her nest only leaving for an occasional dip
or a necessary feed. At that time, the male keeps vigil.
When the little ones are ready to emerge,
they make a shrill noise from within the eggs. This is the
parents' cue to uncover the nest and help them out. They pick
one egg at a time and gently roll it in their mouth, between
the tongue and palate. This tenderly cracks the shell, and
the little ones only need to free themselves by using their
egg tooth, which they loose right after.
The little rascals are about 1ft long, and
grow at a rate of about an inch a month. In their flimsy state,
they are vulnerable to attacks from land predators, big fish
and other crocodiles. Even with a mouth crammed with needle
sharp teeth, they can only feed on insects and small invertebrates.
The mothers keep them safe in their mouths or under their
gular -throat pouch. They will be cared for and protected
until they are about 2 years old.
Adults will easily attack without issuing
a warning to defend their young. The Nile croc- and crocs
in general have excellent parenting skill, which is highly
unusual of reptiles.
The Niles are quite social beings, and can
be seen living in large groups around the waters. Their social
structure is not elaborately defined though within each group
there are those considered as dominant. Many a times, they
hunt together and have even been known to watch over their
nests together. But under some circumstances, they have turned
against one another, and even preyed on each other.
Most reported Nile crocodile attacks are fatal.
In most cases however, they vocalize warnings prior to aggression.
But if they are hunting, they will in most cases sit in silence
and wait for their victims to draw near. They will then pounce
with a hammer blow of about 3,000 pounds per square inch,
making escape almost impossible. The unfortunate victim is
then quickly dragged into the water and drowned.
When death is certain, they begin to tear
the carcass with their sharp teeth. Since it is impossible
to chew with their long snouts, they quickly gorge the pieces.
Nile crocs sometimes display cooperative feeding behaviour-
a carcass may be shared by some gripping a part of it with
their powerful jaws, while others tear it apart as they twist
their bodies.
Even a slight snip from the croc could be
detrimental, as their teeth harbour the deadliest bacteria.
As they tear flesh off their meal, pieces get stuck between
their teeth, encouraging nasty microorganisms to propagate.
These microbes have however no effect on the crocs since they
have a powerful agent -crocodillin -in their blood. Crocodillin
gives them immunity against bacterial infections, and it is
indeed revolutionary in the fields of microbiology and medicine.
You can witness the Nile croc at its most
ferocious, on a Kenya safari at the Mara River during the
annual wildebeest migration. As the migrants toss into the
river in an attempt to get across, the very cunning and ruthless
crocs are on the ready to nab any crosser that may stumble.
They show little compassion and make no exceptions- even ignoring
a mother's kicks to save her calf. In this primal zero sum
game- Nile crocodiles make a hefty meal of many.
The rather forbidding monster croc has found
a friend in the little birds known as spur-winged plovers.
As they bask with their mouths agape, the tiny birds take
the liberty to skip up and down the row of teeth and pick
out the wedged bits of flesh. Considering that this species
has 64-68 conical teeth, you can well imagine the plovers'
task.
Despite their ferociousness, Nile crocs face
their greatest danger from humans. As they mostly live in
significant water sources, contact with humans is inevitable.
Around Lake Turkana in Kenya, for example, the local tribes-people
consider crocodile meat as part of their staple diet. To the
disadvantage of the reptiles, these people develop special
crocodile hunting skills at a tender age. It is quite common
to spot children as young as 7 years, heroically shouldering
their crocodile catch along the banks of Lake Turkana.
Crocodile eggs are also considered as a delicacy
in many parts of the continent. The Nile crocodile hide gives
high quality leather, and for this reason, the species is
brutally hunted. The skin is used to make high-ticket designer
shoes, bags and other fashion accessories. Habitat loss is
also a cause for worry.
The Nile crocs' survival is however not considered
threatened, and its numbers in the wild are estimated at 250-500,000.
Though in some countries -in central and West Africa, populations
are badly depleted.
Crocodile ranching down in South Africa and
Zimbabwe has come a long way to boost the Nile crocodile.
The economic incentives arise from the skin and sometimes,
tourism. Croc hunting without permits has also been made illegal
here.
The Dwarf crocodiles rate second after the
Niles in terms of abundance. They range in the tropical forested
waterways of Sub-Saharan West and Central Africa. They are
the smallest of all croc species measuring 5 - 6 ft at maturity.
They classify into two sub-species: the West African Dwarf
Crocodile and the Congo (or Osborn's) Dwarf Crocodile.
They wear a blackish coat with a yellowish
underside, and their juveniles are a lighter blackish-brown.
Due to their susceptible small size, they are heavily armoured
with thick scales around the neck, back and tail. They are
shy, sluggish in movement, and are largely nocturnal - digging
and hiding in burrows during the day. Given these characteristics,
they are not outright hunters like their Nile cousins. They
rely on insects, fish and crustacean for food, occasionally
targeting small vertebrates, slightly larger invertebrates
and carrion.
These dwarfs have a blunt short snout, with
fewer teeth numbering about 30. Their mating, breeding and
nesting is more similar to the Nile species. They mate in
March and April, and breed in May and June. They do not make
their nests in the sand but rather outfit them from decaying
plant matter, which produces the required heat for incubation.
They lay between 10 - 20 eggs, which hatch in approximately
100 days. The hatchlings are about 25 cm long and grow at
a stunted rate.
The dwarfs' hide is not of good value as it
produces poor quality leather. They are however hunted relentlessly
for their meat, which is eaten widely around the Congo basin.
In this region, deforestation is becoming an alarming threat
to this species. But the species is not under immediate survival
threat, owing to wide distribution and good population sizes
in some of its range.
The slender-snouted crocodilian is the least
populous of the African species. It is a mid-sized croc that
measures 9 - 13 ft in length, and as its name suggests, it
has a much slender snout than its Nile and Dwarf relatives.
They are dark olive in colour, and feed on fish, amphibians
and crustaceans. They breed in the rainy season and their
eggs incubate for about 110 days. They are principally found
in the freshwater lakes and rivers of West and Central Africa,
with their stronghold being in Gabon.
Though the species is not at present considered
as threatened, it is hardly plentiful; only an estimated 50,000
animals thrive in the wild. The greatest danger to their future
arises from hunting and habitat loss.
It is unfortunate that the latter two species
have not been as well studied, and have not enjoyed the publicity
and protection as the Nile species, and their plight passes
almost unnoticed.
Crocodiles are almost always depicted in movies
and films as nasty, bloodthirsty characters. The one person
who took great pains to demystify crocs to the world is Steve
Irwin -the great Australian wildlife conservationist and populariser.
He documented them on his lively film show "The Crocodile
Hunter". Steve Irwin had numerous skirmishes with crocs,
but fell in the line of duty when a stingray off Australia's
north coast fatally stung him in September 2006.
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