Egypt_Wildlife_Guide
Indigo_crocodile
There are 15 species of crocodiles
Length; The Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is 4 to 5 meters long on average and weighs 300 to 700 kilograms. The average lifespan of an adult in the wild is about 45 years. There are many exceptions to age and weight, as crocodiles continue to grow nonstop until they die.
One of the greatest abilities of the crocodile is that it perceives the slightest ripples inside the water resulting from the movement of prey through sensors located on its face and jaw sensors, black spots on the jaw. We do not forget the crocodile’s acute sense of hearing, which distinguishes sounds from a distance.
_ The female lays an average of 60 eggs, and when the eggs hatch, a few small crocodiles live and grow, and it was believed that crocodiles eat their young until it was discovered that the crocodile swallows the young in the mouth to protect it or to transport it to water. The crocodile is distinguished by its ability to monitor its prey and study its behaviour and habits for several days.
The crocodile does not eat its prey under the water but rather pulls it to the surface after drowning and swallows it, and in the case of large fish, it drags it to land until it dies from lack of oxygen swallows it. He does not chew the food but swallows it as one mass, relying on his strong stomach.
Crocodiles have a significant environmental role, as they eliminate schistosomiasis and worms.. because young crocodiles eat insects and snails.
And crocodile excrement is important for algae growth that feeds on aquatic insects, snails and small fish.
Crocodiles can swim at a speed of 60 km underwater without shaking the water’s surface and remain underwater for 15 minutes without the need to breathe.
Crocodiles are considered one of the oldest vertebrates that currently exist on the face of the earth. They are still preserved in their current form without major changes about 55 million years ago, and one of the funny things is that he discovered dinosaur fossils with traces of crocodile bites.
It has the strongest immune system on earth. It is now conducting extensive research because it is the only organism that has been able to survive all dangers and changes, and its immune system has the ability to heal all kinds of wounds in record time and resist all kinds of bacteria as it lives in highly polluted environments without damage.
Jaw: The second strongest jaw in the world. The jaw pressure is 16,000 Newtons. It has a wide mouth, sixty tusks in its upper jaw and forty in its lower jaw, and it has a long tongue that cannot bring its tongue out of its mouth.
Throat: The crocodile has a slit-like valve in front of the tube leading to the nostrils, and this valve closes tightly when the animal is underwater. It also prevents water
from entering through the mouth when capturing its prey.
Tail: The crocodile uses its huge tail as a propellant to move underwater by moving it right and left, quickly and forcefully, and the tail is strong enough to break the spine of any animal on the surface of the earth, while its feet and the leathery appendages between its hind toes act as stabilizers when swimming slowly and keep its body from rolling, and it can Diving and ascending to the surface of the water-based on the movement of its front feet and the volume of air in its lungs, and the muscles of the tail are so strong that they can push it out of the water vertically to catch prey trying to jump
Stomach: The indigo crocodile can digest iron if it swallows it and even dissolves it because its stomach secretes a powerful gastric juice in large quantities. This is what enables it to eat pieces without chewing… Studies are being done now on it to create highly effective medicines, and it was discovered that the crocodile’s stomach consists of two chambers. One of the powerful gang rooms keeps stones for use to break what the crocodile preys on, and it was discovered that the crocodile could survive with one meal every 3 years.
Eyes: Its eyes have a crystalline layer on its back, which makes it visible in the dark as soon as a light is shed on the water. There is a membrane on the crocodile’s eyes like glasses to protect it, and the crocodile cries after eating because it devours all the prey with its bones and skin, so the salinity level increases inside the body, so it resorts to this method to get rid of from excess salt.
Food: The crocodile eats any living creature without exception, and there are no specific enemies in nature other than hippos, some leopards and humans. It devours the whole prey with its skin and bones. In large prey, the crocodile resorts to gnawing and turning and turning to cut the prey into parts and increase the weight. The crocodile is one kilogram. It must eat ten kilograms of living creatures, mostly fish and waterfowl.
Skin: The adult crocodile is covered with very thick skin that is not penetrated by lead to protect the body. #3T
The most important friend of the crocodile is the Egyptian plover, a bird that enters the crocodile’s mouth to clean it and feed on its food remains.
Egypt is one of the signatory countries to the Stockholm Agreement, which criminalizes fishing for crocodiles to achieve an ecological balance in the lake. It is not exposed to extinction at the time of signing it. Now we know that the crocodile eats in the lake an average of 20 kilograms of fish – daily, destroying untapped wealth, as its numbers are estimated between 40 to 80 thousand crocodiles and assuming that the number is 40 thousand and consumes only 10 kg per crocodile, that is, in a year 146 thousand tons, while the fish caught are 20 thousand tons!!!..
And the bodies (Fish Resources Authority) and the Institute (Fish Research), and the twenty affiliated bodies in Aswan, after spending on.
(hatcheries – government buildings – subsidized electricity – elevators – boxes – buses – salaries – incentives – telephones – air conditioning, … etc.)
Neither crocodile meat nor their skins are exploited, nor fish are exploited, and the lake is not exploited…