Conservation status: LEAST CONCERN
Common name: Saltwater crocodile, estuarine crocodile, Indo-Pacific crocodile
Scientific name: Crocodylus porosus
Type: Reptile
Diet: fish, invertebrates, various reptiles, birds and mammals
Length: 4.3m~4.9m (Adult male), 2.7m~3.1m (Adult female)
Weight: 408~522 Kg (Adult male), 76~103 Kg (Adult female)
I lived in East Coast area of Singapore not too long ago. It is amazing and scary (!) that salt water crocodiles can be sighted from time to time. It is suspected that they venture out beyond their natural habitat because of the loss of habitat or changes in eco-system.
The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), also known as the estuarine crocodile, Indo-Pacific crocodile, marine crocodile, sea crocodile or informally as saltie, is the largest of all living reptiles, as well as the largest riparian predator in the world. Males of this species can reach sizes up to 6.30 m (20.7 ft) and possibly up to 7.0 m (23.0 ft) in length. However, an adult male saltwater crocodile rarely reaches or exceeds a size of 6 m (19.7 ft) weighing 1,000 to 1,200 kg (2,200–2,600 lb). Females are much smaller and often do not surpass 3 m (9.8 ft).
As its name implies, this species of crocodile can live in marine environments, but usually resides in saline and brackish mangrove swamps, estuaries, deltas, lagoons, and lower stretches of rivers. They have the broadest distribution of any modern crocodile, ranging from the eastern coast of India throughout most of Southeast Asia and northern Australia.
The saltwater crocodile is a large and opportunistic hypercarnivorous apex predator. Most prey are ambushed and then drowned or swallowed whole. It is capable of prevailing over almost any animal that enters its territory, including other apex predators such as sharks, varieties of freshwater and marine fish including pelagic species, invertebrates such as crustaceans, various reptiles, birds and mammals, including humans. Due to their size, aggression and distribution, saltwater crocodiles are regarded as the most dangerous extant crocodilian to humans, alongside the Nile crocodile.
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References
- Crocodile Specialist Group (1996). “Crocodylus porosus“. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Wood, Gerald (1983). The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats.
- https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/nature-groups-experts-weigh-in-on-recent-crocodile-sightings-9396404
Animals in South-East Asia 