Nile Crocodile Profile

Fast Facts

Type: Reptile
Diet: Carnivore Average lifespan in the wild: 45 years (estimated)
Size: 16 ft (5 m)
Weight: 500 lbs (225 kg)
Group name: Bask (on land) or float (in water)

Did you know? Mummified crocodiles and crocodile eggs have been discovered in Egyptian tombs.

Protection status: Endangered

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. 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, & mangrove swamps.

Their diet is mainly fish, but it will attack almost anything unfortunate enough to cross its path. It will also scavenge carrion, & 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. Mother & father Nile crocs ferociously guard their nests until the eggs hatch, & they will often roll the eggs gently in their mouths to help hatching babies emerge.