Nile crocodile

Nile crocodiles eat other animals.

Babies eat insects and other tiny animals. Big crocodiles mostly eat fish. Sometimes they catch bigger animals too.

Nile crocodiles are carnivores. Babies start with insects and other small water animals, then move on to fish, frogs and reptiles. Fish and smaller animals make up most of what adults eat, though big crocodiles can catch large animals, such as zebras or antelope, by waiting quietly at the water's edge.

They also eat dead animals they find, and several crocodiles often share the same meal. One big meal goes a long way: a crocodile can eat up to half its body weight at once.

Juveniles eat aquatic invertebrates and insects before moving on to fish, amphibians and reptiles. Adults can take large vertebrates, including antelope, zebras and buffalo, but fish and smaller vertebrates often form most of the diet. National Geographic reports that a crocodile can eat up to half its body weight in one feeding.

Nile crocodiles are also social feeders. Groups share carcasses, sometimes walking several hundred meters from the water to scavenge, and adults have been seen herding fish toward the bank with their bodies and tails. Dominant animals tend to feed first.

Nile crocodiles lie on the riverbank to warm up in the sun.

They slide into the water to cool down. Sometimes many crocodiles work together to catch fish.

Nile crocodiles warm up by basking on sunny banks and cool off in the water. A nesting mother even has to leave her nest for a while to cool down.

They are more social than many people think. Groups gather to share a big meal, and some crocodiles line up across a stretch of water to trap fish inside. Bigger, stronger crocodiles usually eat first. You may have heard that birds clean crocodiles' teeth, but the evidence for that story is weak.

Behavioral thermoregulation, basking and retreating to water or dens, shapes daily life; nesting females must leave their nests periodically to cool down, which is when many nests are raided.

Social behavior is often underestimated. Crocodiles cooperate when feeding: several hold a carcass and twist to tear pieces, others have been reported cordoning off water to concentrate fish, and feeding order follows a dominance hierarchy. The widely repeated idea that plovers clean crocodiles' teeth is hard to confirm from the literature; any such behavior appears opportunistic rather than a true partnership.

Long ago, people hunted many Nile crocodiles for their skins.

Now there are laws to protect them, and many places have more crocodiles again. Near crocodile rivers, stay well back from the water and stay with a grown-up.

From the 1940s to the 1960s, Nile crocodiles were hunted close to extinction for their skins. Laws to protect them, and farms that raise crocodiles, helped them come back, and today they are listed as Least Concern.

In some places they are still in trouble from pollution, hunting and habitat loss. Where crocodiles share rivers with people, staying well back from the water's edge, following local signs and staying with a grown-up keeps everyone safe.

The IUCN assessed the Nile crocodile globally as Least Concern in 2017. Heavy hunting between the 1940s and 1960s was followed by legal protection, and large populations recovered in countries such as Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Ranching and sustainable-use programs, set up with CITES, support a widespread legal skin trade.

Pollution, hunting and habitat loss still deplete some populations, and conflict between people and crocodiles is a real problem in some areas, which is why education programs matter. Recognizing the West African crocodile as a separate species also changes the picture, because that species is much rarer.