Most often, the crocodile’s prey is the animals that come to the watering place. In general, these are ungulate animals: antelopes, zebras, buffaloes, gazelles, deer, livestock. In addition to ungulates, he does not mind eating fish, waterfowl, rodents, reptiles and amphibians. In short, the crocodile menu includes a variety of food and the older the animal, the larger the prey it prefers.
At the earliest age, the basis of their nutrition is small insects and fish, which is abundant in water. As you grow up, the “menu” expands, and crocodiles are hunted more often on birds, mammals and other animals. Since their jaws are not intended for chewing, they swallow the whole animal or large parts. Too hard meat, which the crocodile can not break at once, he drags to the bottom and waits until the extraction becomes softer.
As for rotten meat and eating their own kind, such cases are very rare, although if the crocodile is hungry, then such an option to cope with hunger is not ruled out. At one time, reptiles can eat about 23 percent of their own body weight, of which more than half are transformed into fat cells. This feature allows them to survive in times of hunger – they eat crocodiles in their natural environment not every day or even every week. The maximum period that they can live without food is 1-1.5 years.
The older the crocodile, the less often it needs food. A young person needs to eat a week’s food at a rate of 10% of its own weight, while an adult crocodile will be enough and 5%.
