Watching a crocodile eat another crocodile might sound unbelievable, but it does happen. A rare sighting of a large dinosaur-sized crocodile eating a smaller crocodile was captured at the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Cannibalism isn’t seen in many crocodile species, but this crocodile in the video took the phrase “you are what you eat” to a whole different level.
Watch This Huge Croc Snack on a Little Croc in the Video Below!
The footage was taken by Marce Jacobs and Stephen Kangisser and showed an adult crocodile trying to fight and eat a young juvenile crocodile. The larger crocodile can be seen pulling on the juvenile’s tail, but the younger crocodile does not seem interested in fighting back.
You can see in the video that the juvenile crocodile seems to be getting agitated when the larger crocodile begins fighting with it, however, it was an unfair fight, and the larger crocodile was bound to win. At some point, it seems that the juvenile crocodile has given up and accepts its fate when the larger crocodile attempts to swallow the juvenile whole. Once the larger crocodile has one and captured its meal, it starts to take the juvenile crocodile into the water.
It is unclear whether the juvenile crocodile in the video is the larger crocodile’s offspring or other crocodiles, however, male crocodiles do not care much about hatchlings or juveniles, and they will eat them if given the chance.
Do Crocodiles Eat Each Other?
It might seem strange that a crocodile will eat another one of its species, and target a vulnerable juvenile crocodile, but it is the sad reality of nature. In the wild, male crocodiles will eat their young but female crocodiles will protect their offspring. The crocodile in the video was likely a male due to its cannibalistic behavior and size, as male crocodiles grow much larger than female crocodiles.
Crocodiles will rarely try to fight other adult crocodiles because they are tough creatures. Although this does not apply to a vulnerable hatchling or juvenile crocodile that is no match for a large adult crocodile. Crocodiles can put up a good fight if another one tries to fight over territory or if food is scarce, but it seems easier for adult crocodiles to prey on the young ones instead.
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The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/Jeroen Mikkers
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