A Nile crocodile can eat up to half its body weight in one feeding. It takes a while to digest the meal, though. Nile crocodiles are social creatures. Males defend territories along shorelines, but both sexes gather at basking sites, and females tend to make their nests near one another. Sometimes these reptiles hunt cooperatively, herding fish into shallow water. During these hunts, the largest crocs eat first. Nile crocodiles spend much of the day warming themselves in the sun, lounging with their mouths open, or retreating to the water to cool down.
Small bumps, called integumentary sensory organs, cover their bodies and faces. More sensitive than human fingertips, these organs allow crocodiles to detect extremely slight movements as well as chemical and temperature variations in the water.
Protection provided by international laws and conservation efforts have helped the population of Nile crocodiles recover after nearly being wiped out in the mids mainly by hunters.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN now lists the Nile crocodile as a species of lower risk, although it still faces threats from habitat destruction, pollution, and hunting in some areas of its range.
Nile crocodiles can be found in the Nile basin and throughout sub-Saharan Africa and in western Madagascar. Although Nile crocodiles are most frequently found in lakes, rivers, and mangrove swamps, several populations have been found living in caves and near springs in the Sahara! Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.
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Travel A road trip in Burgundy reveals far more than fine wine. Travel My Hometown In L. Despite their appearance of being slow, crocodiles have a very fast strike and are top predators in their environment. West African crocodiles are carnivores. They feed on a wide variety of fish, amphibians, birds, and land mammals.
Female West African crocodiles usually lay from 40 to 60 eggs and are highly protective of their nests and young. The average incubation period is around days and the gender of hatchlings is determined by temperature. At the time of hatching, the young start calling within the eggs. They have an egg-tooth at the tip of their snouts, which is developed from the skin, and that helps them pierce out of the shell.
Hearing the calls, the female usually excavates the nest and sometimes takes the unhatched eggs in her mouth, slowly rolling the eggs to help the process. The young are usually carried to the water in the mouth. She would then introduce her hatchlings to the water and even feed them. West African crocodiles become reproductively mature when they are around 10 years old. The main threats to West African crocodiles include habitat loss and humans. These reptiles are hunted for the meat trade and for their skin, which is used in the production of high-quality leather.
They are also often considered pests for attempting to remove caught fish from fishing nets which as a result leads to conflict between the crocodiles and fishermen. The West African crocodile population number is unavailable at present from open sources and its conservation status has not been evaluated.
West African Crocodile Desert crocodile, Sacred crocodile. Crocodylus suchus. Population size. Life Span. Photos with West African Crocodile. Geography Continents. Sub-Saharan Africa. Biome Tropical savanna. Tropical dry forest. Tropical moist forests. Climate zones Tropical.
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