Click here or below to download hands-on marine science activities for kids. Protect Habitat. View All. We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana. Marine Mammals. Marine Science and Ecosystems. Ocean Fishes. Share Reaching lengths of more than 23 feet 6. Learn More. The scientific term is crocodile shagreen , which is characterized by greyish-white opacities. The usual species killers, such as habitat destruction and human intervention, are some of the other main culprits. The ferocious predators induce fear in herbivores and small mammals.
The largest of the crocs will even attack and eat animals as large as wildebeest. However, desperate big cats, such as jaguars and leopards , will sometimes have their go at attacking a vulnerable crocodile. Huge serpents, like pythons and anacondas , will also take their chances against a croc when times are hard. This puts the crocs lifespan in a good position. Without becoming prey, they have the chance of living a longer life. With the most acidic stomach of all animals, the croc can digest all parts of their meals, including the hooves and horns of an animal.
The evolved metabolism allows the croc to use up the entirety of the food it consumes. During this shutdown period, the crocodile will use up its own tissue as an energy form. A zoo in Yekaterinburg, Russia, once housed a crocodile named Kolya that lived up to years old. Crocworld, in South Africa, has said the resident crocodile living in the Okavango Delta has been around since How true are these tales? What we do know though, is that animals tend to live much longer in captivity than in the wild.
Freshie was a freshwater croc living in an Australian zoo. Steve and Bob Irwin made the croc famous by rescuing him. Big Daddy married Sasha and Salma in December Currently awarded the title of largest crocodile in captivity by the Guinness Book of World Records , Cassius is a whooping 5. He currently resides in the Marineland Melanesia wildlife zoo in Green Island, Australia, along with other 50 crocodiles.
He was brought to the zoo over 3, km 1. He was first captured in for stealing cattle and attacking boats. In celebration of his th birthday in , Cassius was met with fervent celebration and was gifted a chicken birthday cake to commemorate the special occasion. George Craig, the person who brought Cassius to the Marineland Melanesia zoo, named him after Cassius Clay, the birth name of renowned boxer Muhammad Ali.
Believed to have been born in the era of the czars , a crocodile that died in a Russian zoo is alleged to be one of the oldest crocodiles to have ever lived. Named Kolya, the crocodile measured 9 feet 10 inches 3 meters long was part of an animal show that toured the region. Born in the Okavango Delta in Botswana , Henry the Nile Crocodile, gained a reputation of being a man-eater, terrorizing local tribespeople and eating several men and children.
One of the tribes solicited the services of an elephant hunter known as Sir Henry, who the crocodiles in named after, to kill him.
After capturing Henry in , he was sentenced to a lifetime in captivity. Henry currently lives at the Crocworld Conservation Centre in Scottburgh, Kwa-Zulu Natal, where the caretakers and visitors celebrate his birthday with style, handing out free cupcakes and providing fun entertainment such as dancing and face painting. One famously old tortoise named Jonathan is thought to be approaching years of age! That's not to say all crocs die young. The age record might belong to a three-metre 9ft crocodile that lived in captivity in Russia for over a hundred years before dying two decades ago.
You may also have heard of Cassius , who is supposedly going on years old, though some experts question estimates of his age. So, no, crocodiles do not hold the secrets of immortality, nor do they "just keep getting bigger". It may be tempting to think of these big reptiles as totally alien to us humans, but the truth is they live a lot like you do: they grow up quickly, reach full size, gradually get older and weaker, and eventually die after what was hopefully a long — but not endless — life.
David Moscato is a science communicator, writer and educator with a background in palaeontology. Follow him DMos or on his blog, The Meniscus. Our planet is a busy, crazy place. And amidst all the noise, voices get lost and some stories are never heard.
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