Saturday 27 January 2018

Salt Water Crocodiles

The Saltwater Crocodile is a far more formidable animal than its freshwater relative, and it does eat people.While normally found in estuaries and tidal rivers, these crocodiles also inhabit fresh water and will go out to sea. The smaller Saltwater Crocodiles feed on insects, frogs, small fish and  reptiles.The larger ones will eat fish, birds, reptiles and whatever other suitably sized animals they can get, including wallabies.

In the wet season females construct a nest of vegetation and soil and lay their eggs within. The eggs are left to incubate in the heat generated by the rotting vegetation. Mortality of eggs in nests is high,often because flooding covers the eggs with water and the embryos drown.

The females remain near their nests and will defend them from intruders It has been estimated that about 20 per cent of the eggs laid in a season actually hatch, and less than 1 per cent will reach maturity. As with Freshwater Crocodiles, the female will remove hatchlings from the nest and take them to the water.

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