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Nile Crocodile
Permanent rivers, lakes and floodplains
Habitat
August to October
Best Viewing Season
Least Concern
Conservation Status
Introduction
Nile crocodiles reign as Africa's apex reptilian predator, lurking in Tanzanian rivers and lakes with prehistoric patience. The Mara River hosts some of the continent's largest specimens, where coordinated ambushes during wildebeest crossings deliver some of safari's most powerful moments. Witness ancient predator-prey dynamics during August to October river crossings.
Behaviour & Facts
A six metre crocodile basking on a sandbank looks dead. The skin is dry, the jaws are open, the ribs barely move. You can sit and watch one for an hour and convince yourself it is part of the riverbank. Then a wildebeest steps into the shallows fifty metres away, and the riverbank suddenly explodes. The Nile crocodile is the second largest reptile alive after the saltwater crocodile, and arguably the most successful predator in Africa. It is also one of the oldest. The body plan you see resting on the riverbank has been functionally unchanged for around 80 million years. These animals were hunting along inland waterways before the dinosaurs went extinct, and they have outlasted every major extinction event since. Adult Nile crocodiles in Tanzania routinely reach 4 to 5 metres in length, with the largest individuals along the Mara River in the northern Serengeti exceeding 6 metres and weighing over a tonne. They are ambush predators of staggering patience. A crocodile will lie motionless in the shallows for hours, then strike forward with the most powerful bite force ever measured in any living animal, over 5,000 pounds per square inch. The strike covers two metres in less than a second.
Jack Fleckney - Legend Head Guide
Their hunting technique relies on physics. A crocodile cannot chew, so it kills by drowning and dismembering. It clamps onto the prey, drags it underwater, and then performs the famous death roll, a fast spin along its long axis that twists chunks of flesh free without the croc having to bite again. Several crocodiles often work cooperatively at a kill, each rolling in opposite directions to tear the carcass apart. Their reproductive lives are unexpectedly tender. Female Nile crocodiles dig nests in the sand above the high water mark and guard them obsessively for the 90 day incubation period. When the hatchlings are ready to emerge they call from inside the eggs, the mother digs them out, and then she carries the babies to the water in her teeth, gently, in a special pouch in her lower jaw. She will guard the brood for several weeks until they are old enough to disperse. Tanzania's crocodile populations are strong and stable, and the Mara River crocodiles are individually famous. Local guides know the largest males by name and by the scars on their flanks. The annual wildebeest crossings provide them with a single concentrated feeding event that sustains them for months, and the largest individuals on the Mara today were probably already adults when the Serengeti was declared a national park in 1951.
Where to see
Nile Crocodile
in Tanzania
Where to see Nile crocodiles in Tanzania?
The Mara and Grumeti rivers in the Serengeti hold the largest and most reliably visible Nile crocodiles in northern Tanzania. Lake Manyara and the Tarangire River also hold strong populations. Legend Expeditions can time your northern circuit safari to coincide with the migration crossings for the most dramatic viewing.
How big do Nile crocodiles grow?
Adult Nile crocodiles in Tanzania routinely reach 4 to 5 metres in length and weigh several hundred kilograms. The largest verified specimens from the Mara River exceed 6 metres and weigh over a tonne, which puts them among the largest reptiles alive today. The very biggest are old males, possibly 70 years or more.
Will I see a crocodile attack?
Crocodile predation at the Mara River crossings is unpredictable but very real, and travellers visiting the northern Serengeti during August to October regularly witness ambushes. Multiple days based at a northern Serengeti camp dramatically increase your chances. Our guides know the most active crossing points in real time.
Are crocodiles dangerous to tourists?
On a guided Legend Expeditions safari you will never be in a position where a crocodile poses any risk. The attacks that occur in rural Tanzania almost all involve people fishing, washing or fetching water at unprotected riverbanks. Inside the national parks there is no contact between visitors and crocodiles.
How long can crocodiles go without food?
A large adult Nile crocodile can survive over a year without food by dropping its metabolism to almost nothing between meals. After a single big kill, a six metre male may not need to feed again for months. This is why the migration crossings sustain the Mara River population for the rest of the year.
How old are the biggest crocodiles?
The very largest Mara River crocodiles are probably 70 years old or more, meaning they were alive when the Serengeti was first declared a national park in 1951. Crocodiles grow slowly throughout their entire lives, so size is a rough proxy for age, and the largest individuals are usually old males.
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