AfricaLeast concern
Nile crocodile
Crocodylus niloticus
Africa's biggest reptile. It waits almost invisible in the water, with only its eyes and nostrils showing.
- Weight
- Up to 750 kg
- Size
- Up to 5 m long
- Lifespan
- About 70 years
- Top speed
- About 14 km/h on land
- Diet
- Carnivore
How heavy is that?
As heavy as 19 kids (40 kg each)
Where it lives
Three things to know
- It can go months without eating.
- Mothers carry their hatchlings to the water gently in their mouths.
- It has about 66 teeth, which are replaced many times in its life.
Compare with…
- Weight
- Nile crocodile750 kgA 10-year-old kid40 kgThe Nile crocodile weighs about 19× as much as the kid
- Size
- Nile crocodile5 mA 10-year-old kid1.4 mThe Nile crocodile is about 4× as big as the kid
- Top speed
- Nile crocodile14 km/hA 10-year-old kid20 km/hThe kid is about 1.4× as fast as the Nile crocodile
- Lifespan
- Nile crocodile70 yrsA 10-year-old kid80 yrsAbout the same
Food chain
- GrassProducer
- Zebra
Nile crocodileThis animal
Nothing hunts a healthy adult