Older juveniles take more small vertebrates and invertebrates
Eat freshwater crabs, snails, toads, frogs, turtles, small birds and rodents
Adult diet
Kill and eat almost anything that moves
May feed on smaller prey when available; E.g. frogs, crabs, and fish
Fish are mainstay of diet
Consume medium to large terrestrial mammals
Feed on impala, bushbuck, water buck, giraffes, buffalo, young hippos, hyenas, wild dogs, porcupines, and lions in Kruger National Park (South Africa) (Grenard 1991)
May consume up to 20% of body mass in one meal
Known to eat humans
In Kruger National Park, more humans killed by crocodiles than by all other predators combined (including snakes) (Grenard1991)
Eat rocks
Gastroliths (rocks) often found in the stomach (from Brazaitis 1969; Cott 1975)
May account for c. 1% of total body weight
Young crocodiles lack gastroliths in the stomach
Reasons for ingestion
To help maintain buoyancy in the water
Useful when lying on the river bottom
Added weight helps to subdue struggling prey
To lower the center of gravity and gain stability in the water
Feeding & Prey Capture
Prey capture and immobilization
On land
May ambush prey in overhanging tree branches or near the shoreline
Silently swim underwater until near shore
May surface, with eyes above the water, to check position
Launch body out of the water to grab prey
Can lunge several times own body length out of the water, onto land
Tail bats at birds in reeds
Tail bends reeds down and flips birds into water
Drag prey into water and drown; dismemberment in water (Pooley & Gans 1976)
In the water
Dismember large prey items
Crocodile takes hold of prey and rotates in the water until a piece is torn away
Reports of cooperative predation
When feeding on an animal that is small enough that it turns in the water along with the crocodile, a second crocodile often helps to hold the prey and they both feed (Pooley & Gans 1976)
Two crocodiles have been observed walking over land, carrying a carcass of a nylala antelope between them (Pooley & Gans 1976)
Young crocodiles have often been seen forming a semi-circle in a flowing stream, facing oncoming water with fish, snapping up the fish and not fighting among themselves for this prey (Pooley & Gans 1976)
