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 croc.
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.
