Fresh Water Crocodile Fresh Water Crocodile Habitat (in red)

Description:

The fresh water crocodile is a reptile it has very scaly skin it is cold blooded. The fresh water crocodile has very sharp claws for catching prey. Crocodiles dig with their back hind legs because they are sharper then the front claws.

Crocodiles can be gray or greenish brown , with heavily mottled flanks. The snout on the crocodile is very smooth and long.

The fresh water Crocodile is a small to medium sized crocodile the male fresh water crocodile reaches up to 3.m and the females grow up to 2.3m. The crocodile gallops at approximately 18Km / h.

Recently there have been up to 30,000 to 60,000 fresh water crocodiles restricted to the Northern Territory ranges. In Fitzroy , the Old River and Lake Argyle there is a total of 47,000 but this total was in 1994.

The fresh water crocodile eats crustaceans , insects, spiders and fish. It will also take frogs, lizards, goannas, snakes, birds, rats and bats.

Sometimes it will kill and eat wallabies and it is also known to eat the young of it's own species. Crustaceans and insects are it's main diet.

To catch it's prey it lies completely still and camouflaged. It usually sits among the grass near the near the edge of the water. When the prey comes near it leaps very fast with it's mouth wide open. The crocodile then throws back it's head and gulps it down.

The fresh water crocodile does most of it's growing in the wet season. When there isn't much food the crocodile will go without food for a few days and then it looses weight or even shrinks.

Environment:

Fresh water crocodiles prefer to live in freshwater rivers and water holes.

Fresh water crocodiles are commonly found in Katherine in the NT and also are found in Queens land because of the hot weather.

Problems:

The fresh water crocodile is an endangered species because man used to hunt them to make bags and things like that.

The use of crocodile skin began in 1983.

Solutions:

Not much conservation is needed for the fresh water crocodile but a group of research people called the Conservation Committee of the Northern Territory have been doing some research. They have been doing this program since the late 1970's. They are trying to stop the hunting of crocodiles and finding out why the fresh water crocodile is endangered.

Summary:

The fresh water crocodile is an endangered species of Australia.

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