Time stood still...

Time stood still...
Originally uploaded by Pandiyan

... for these crocodiles. This could have been a picture taken million years ago. But things are changing for them a lot more rapidly. They have a deadly adversary now. One who is smart, reckless and ruthless. These muggers came close to disappearance few decades ago.

Luckily for them all humans are not their adversaries. Thoughtful among them are finding ways and means of coexistence after fully realising the interconnectedness.

These muggers are testy during the nesting season. They don't readily back off for Arun or his bamboo pole. They seem to have some primal instinct which triggers maternal feelings to guard the nest. They stand down eventually as self-preservation and fear of humans take over.

I understand that only in very isolated breeding grounds where they don't encounter humans crocs defend the nests very aggressively. In all other places over time they succumb to fear and rightly so. People who hunt crocodile nests for eggs usually kill the defending crocodile. Crocs learn to live to fight another day.

Crocodile

Salt water Crocodile
Originally uploaded by Pandiyan.

Do you know that crocodiles have a super immune system that very rarely they catch a disease?

Though crocs breathe like land animals and not like fish, they can remain under water for hours. They bring down their metabolic rate so much that their oxygen requirement is minimal. The picture shows the tongue which folds back to cover the throat.

Crocs use their teeth more to hold their prey as they swallow food whole. Their jaws are very powerful exerting incredible amount of power as they close. However, curiously, the muscles controlling the jaws to open are so weak that held tight by a human they can't open the jaws.

Looks like a Gharial but is it one....

Looks like a Gharial but is it one....
Originally uploaded by Pandiyan.

It has a long, narrow snout like a Gharial but is actually a crocodile. It is called a False Gharial.

Put on the endangered list, found in isolated wild habitats of Indonesia and Malaysia. Said to have disappeared from Vietnam and Thailand. However, it is being bred in many captive sites.

One of the most unusual and little known of all crocodilians. Very little is properly studied about this crocodile. In fact, opinion is divided on whether it should be a crocodile or a gharial.

Scientific name: Tomistoma schlegelii

The name is a tribute to the Dutch zoologist H. Schlegel who credited with its discovery.

Neither short nor stout but has a really long snout

Neither short nor stout but has a really long snout
Originally uploaded by Pandiyan.

Indian Gharial - Gavialis gangeticus

The most critiacally threatened of all crocodilians. They usually are found in rivers and are harmless to humans except during nesting.

They are more adapted to an aquatic lifestyle preferring calmer areas of fast moving rivers. They come to land for nesting and basking but are not very well eqipped for moving on land.

Their thn and long snouts are their special feature and they have 100+ teeth unlike their other crocodile cousins which have 60+ Their teeth are razor sharp and interlock making them highly specialised for catching fish.

They also grow very large, not as much as salt water crocodiles, but to 15-16 feet. With this bulk they can only 'bellycrawl' unlike other crocs which can walk with body raised.

They numbers are threatened as they get caught in fishing nets; get killed for their snouts believed to have aphrodisiacal properties; and lack of many release sites for captive-bred ones. Decline in gharials result in lower fish catch as their diet consist of predatory fish. They are good scavengers too.

Out on a limb...

Out on a limb...
Originally uploaded by Pandiyan.

Fights for mating rights or territory are bloody in the crocodilian world. Alpha males rule supreme. Any challenger has better be good. Has to go out on a limb...

This poor fellow has lost a whole of his hind leg. However, crocs have a remarkable immune system that protects them very well against infections. Even with wounds such as this they survive unlike many other animals..

I am sorry for posting a gruesome picture, but I wanted to show that while we continue to work for their preservation and make people aware of their fascinating side and beauty, we also need to foster a healthy respect their inherent strength and tough nature.

The Lord of the Swamps

The Lord of the Swamps
Originally uploaded by Pandiyan.

Don't be fooled by the 18 inches that you see here. He is an 18 foot giant who brooks no challenge. He is Jaws, India's largest saltwater crocodile. And he is still growing.

Have you seen the perfect alignment of the crocodile's nostrils, eyes and ears which protrude just above water while the massive body is underneath? Adult males are highly territorial and fight hard for mating rights. See the next photo for how deadly they can be.

Among the crocodiles, salties are among the least threatened as far as conservation is concerned. However, their skin is the most valuable and legal and illegal trade is rampant. The fact that they are dangerous to humans, turn common folk against them and that makes conservation more difficult.

I have been to Jaws' place so many times, but he is always camera shy and I have never got a proper shot of him. Here is another shot of him.

Scientific name: Crocodylus porosus