Which animals eat crocodiles

To put it simply, crocodiles prey on many animals but are seldomly preyed upon. What eats a crocodile? Despite being apex predators, a few animals eat crocodiles. Besides big cats, such as tigers, jaguars, and lions, the biggest crocodile predators are humans. Large pythons and other crocodiles have been known to attack and eat crocodiles as well. On the other side, baby crocodiles have many predators. Different carnivore animals and birds of prey would eat crocodiles that are unable to protect themselves.

It is worth mentioning that all these predators would rarely attack crocodiles. Trying to eat a crocodile puts any animal in danger of being eaten instead. Thanks to its brute strength and strongest jaw force, animals, in general, know better than challenging a fully grown croc. When we think of crocodiles, we often picture them hunting and eating other animals and not vice versa.

Which most of the time is not far from the truth. Only a few fierce predatory animals would dare to attack and eat a crocodile. However, for all of them, crocodiles do not make the bulk of their diet. Most of them, would only in rare situations attack crocodiles. In the wild, crocodiles and tigers live together in many regions. Tigers are the main crocodile natural predators.

Compared to other animals, tigers eat crocodiles most often. Tigers are known for their ambushing skills and deadly attacks with the elements of surprise. Yet, more often than not, tigers would also attack crocodiles on their home turf. Tigers are great swimmers , and they have no problem fighting against giant reptiles in the water. It is not a surprising fact that tigers are the most common croc predators. They are the largest and strongest among all big cats, Bengal tigers, in particular.

Jaguars may not be the biggest cat in the world, and because of that, people wonder whether jaguars eat crocodiles. Despite not being the largest cat, jaguars are seen hunting and eating a crocodile in the wild.

Unlike most big cats, which go for the neck when attacking their prey, jaguars during hunt catch their prey by its head. This is not a surprising fact since jaguars have the strongest bite among all felines relative to their size. The largest crocodilians will attack and eat animals that are as large as a bull!

A food web—every food web—begins with sunlight. Plants turn that sunlight into usable food energy, and that energy is transfered to the herbivorous animals that eat those plants. When those plant eating animals are themselves eaten by predators, the energy is transfered higher up the food chain and becomes concentrated in the bodies of the top, or apex, predators. The apex predators return energy to the food web after they die and their bodies are consumed by scavengers, fungi and microbes.

Other than these mammals, tigers are also known to prey on other significant predators both for food and to eliminate the competition , such as leopards, bears, pythons, and crocodiles. When attacking large prey like crocodiles, the tigers usually hold them down with their strong limbs while biting their throat. Tigers are far too powerful for the crocodiles and almost always win against them on land. However, sometimes, an injured crocodile might slip back into the water to save its life.

Reptiles that Prey on Crocodiles. While crocodiles are far too dangerous for the other crocodilians Caimans, Gharials, and Alligators to attempt to attack them, other reptiles are not afraid of them. Like the other members of their genus, these snakes are non-venomous and use the method of constriction to kill their prey. The Common Anacondas are sexually dimorphic, with the females being much longer in length than their male counterparts. These snakes are primarily aquatic, but they have a diverse diet that consists of anything they can overpower.

Some of their common victims are Caimans, Capybara, Tapis, Deer, and various fish and other reptiles. Although the anaconda can eat a fully-grown crocodile, it would be a long and tiresome process for them. Because the crocodiles will certainly try their best to resist these snakes, it can even take up to 5 hours for the anacondas to completely swallow them. Like the anacondas, the pythons are also a family of non-venomous snakes found in Asia, Australia, and Africa. While the pythons are not endemic to the United States, the Burmese Pythons Python bivittatus have been introduced and are considered invasive species.

The pythons possess 6 rows of sharp teeth in their jaws curved backward, which grab their prey. Once their prey is within their firm grasp, they constrict them and wrap themselves around their body in coils.

During this process, their prey dies due to cardiac failure, after which they swallow them. Rodents, birds, and lizards are consumed by these snakes as well. Although the pythons have been engaged in conflict with the crocodiles before, the chances of either winning are Most species of pythons usually leave crocodiles alone for fear of injury.

Predators of Baby Crocodiles. While there are only a few animals that would dare to prey on the crocodiles, their younger ones are seen as food by many, including birds and mammals.

Eagles are a family of large carnivore birds belonging to the family of the raptors, consisting of about 60 recognized species. Although the diet of these birds of prey differs with different species and their geographical locations, many large eagle species hunt baby crocodiles.