Saltwater Crocodiles Habitat
(Crocodylus porosus)
The name Saltwater Crocodile would lead you to believe the saltwater crocodile lives in salt water. This is not entirely true. Saltwater Crocodiles have been found regularly in fresh water.
In northern Australia we have what is known as the wet season each year. During our summer months flooding of rivers allows saltwater crocodiles to move into areas much further inland and the receding flood waters traps them there.
Saltwater Crocodiles have been found in dams and waterways hundred of kilometers from saltwater.
As a rule Saltwater crocodiles live in estuaries where there is a good supply of crabs and fish and the occasional larger animal to eat.
Saltwater crocodiles will live and reproduce along rivers, creeks, billabongs and dams in northern Australia.
People should never simply assume an area near water anywhere in northern Australia isn’t a habitat for a saltwater crocodile. They are known to travel over land and have been seen crossing highways and train tracks. Some baby saltwater crocodiles were even found in the car park of a supermarket at Palmerston south of Darwin in the Northern Territory.
Storm water drains have also been found to contain a saltwater crocodile on more than one occasion.
In northern Australia you should assume that any waterway might contain saltwater crocodiles. Creeks and swimming holes in hills and mountains at an elevated height are considered safe for swimming.
Beaches and some offshore islands are known habitats also.
The Saltwater Crocodile has been protected by law for around 30 years now and a successful breeding program has seen their number rise again to a stage where they are no longer a threatened species.
There are unconfirmed reports of crocodiles being sighted as far south as Hervey Bay and Brisbane in Queensland. While crocodiles were known and confirmed to have been in the Mary River near Hervey Bay at the turn of the century they have not been seen there or caught in recent times.
As they have lived there in the past it is safe to assume they can do so again as their numbers increase.
In Australia the official statements say the Saltwater Crocodile ranges from Broome in Western Australia across the top end of the Northern Territory and Queensland and as far south as Rockhampton in Queensland however there are verified sightings as far south as Gladstone with unconfirmed sightings as far south as Brisbane.
You should never assume that because you are only in or near fresh water that a saltwater crocodile cannot be living there. They are known to live in fresh or brackish water, it is common for them to do so.
Saltwater Crocodiles have also been sighted regularly on offshore islands many miles out to sea. They are known to turn up at sea turtle hatcheries on remote islands when the turtles are hatching.
The American Crocodile
The American crocodile is considered an endangered species in nearly all parts of its North, Central, and South American range. Survey data, except in the United States, is poor or nonexistent, but conservationists agree that illegal hunting and habitat depletion has reduced populations of this wide-ranging reptile to critical levels.
A small, remnant population lives in southern Florida, but most are found in southern Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Their habitat of choice is the fresh or brackish water of river estuaries, coastal lagoons, and mangrove swamps.
A prehistoric-looking creature, it is distinguishable from its cousin, the American alligator, by its longer, thinner snout, its lighter color, and two long teeth on the lower jaw that are visible when its mouth is closed.
This species is among the largest of the world's crocodiles, with Central and South American males reaching lengths of up to 20 feet (6.1 meters). Males in the U.S. population rarely exceed 13 feet (4 meters), however.
Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, birds, fish, crabs, insects, snails, frogs, and occasionally carrion. They have been known to attack people, but are far more likely to flee at the sight of humans.
Most countries in the American crocodile's range have passed protection laws, but unfortunately, few governments provide adequate enforcement.
The Nile Crocodile
The Nile crocodile has a somewhat deserved reputation as a vicious man-eater. The proximity of much of its habitat to people means run-ins are frequent. And its virtually indiscriminate diet means a villager washing clothes by a riverbank might look just as tasty as a migrating wildebeest. Firm numbers are sketchy, but estimates are that up to 200 people may die each year in the jaws of a Nile crocodile.
Africa's largest crocodilian, these primordial brutes reach a maximum size of about 20 feet (6 meters) and can weigh up to 1,650 pounds (730 kilograms). Average sizes, though, are more in the range of 16 feet (5 meters) and 500 pounds (225 kilograms). They live throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Nile Basin, and Madagascar in rivers, freshwater marshes, and mangrove swamps.
The diet of the Nile crocodile is mainly fish, but it will attack almost anything unfortunate enough to cross its path, including zebras, small hippos, porcupines, birds, and other crocodiles. It will also scavenge carrion, and can eat up to half its body weight at a feeding.
One unusual characteristic of this fearsome predator is its caring nature as a parent. Where most reptiles lay their eggs and move on, mother and father Nile crocs ferociously guard their nests until the eggs hatch, and they will often roll the eggs gently in their mouths to help hatching babies emerge.
Hunted close to extinction in the 1940s through the 1960s, local and international protections have helped them rebound in most areas. In some regions, though, pollution, hunting, and habitat loss have severely depleted their numbers.
