thecuckoohaslanded:

sentimental-shipwreck
replied to your post “I can’t stop thinking about crocodiles for some reason so here’s some…”

Why are crocodiles captured though?? Forgive my ignorance, it just makes me sad to see them caged in, is it for their own safety and that of others? Shouldn’t they be free?

Most of the time if they’re taken from the wild it’s because they’re “problem crocodiles,” i.e. they have gotten someplace that puts them in dangerous proximity to humans and they’re at risk of killing livestock and/or people.  In the old days they most likely would have been killed, but since they became protected species (I think in the 80s?) they instead need to be captured alive and relocated.  Sometimes the most suitable place for them is in captivity.  If it’s any reputable zoo they will be healthier and better off that way anyway, crocodiles are very vulnerable to stress and the stability and routine of captivity is actually healthier for them than being in the wild.

Lolong was a problem crocodile.  He was suspected of killing at least 2 people and some domestic water buffalo (evidence of this was NOT found when they pumped his stomach, and eyewitnesses reported seeing two crocodiles, of whom Lolong was the smaller one).  He did NOT have good treatment in captivity and died within two years as a result of it, but honestly there was really nothing else they could have done with a 20 foot crocodile without some significant international aid.

Most of the crocodiles at the Australia Zoo, formerly run by Steve Irwin, were problem crocodiles.  They definitely had good treatment under his direction, and all the animals there are probably in excellent health.  The oldest crocodile ever recorded lived there until dying in 2010 somewhere between the estimated ages of 120 and 140 years old.  His name was Mr. Freshie.  Bob and Steve Irwin themselves caught him around 1970.

Utan was bred in captivity by accident, but he seems to be in good health and his enclosure is nice.  He should have a long life ahead of him.  Cassius has made it to 114 in a much lower quality enclosure.

Brutus, Dominator, and Gustave are all wild.  The Adelaide River tours go into their natural habitat (former two).  Gustave I can’t say for sure because he was very elusive, and Nile crocodiles in general aren’t the easiest to track individually.  He was primarily tracked by one French herpetologist, Patrice Faye, who named him and observed him for something like 20 years.  I’m not aware of any sightings of Gustave over the last few years.  It’s possible he’s still alive, but he’d be in his 70s at least, which would make him very old for a wild crocodile, especially in the harsh and territorial environment that Nile crocodiles live in.  He was an EXCEPTIONAL crocodile, but has probably died by now.

There will be more Gustaves though.  Thanks to poaching laws crocodiles are recovering greatly in the wild and reaching sizes (and numbers) they haven’t seen for quite some time.  There are four species that are known to be capable of exceeding 20 feet in length: American, Orinoco, Nile, and Saltwater (possibly a fifth if the Saltwater crocodile is reclassified as two separate species).  Of these only the Saltwater crocodile has a verified modern record of a live individual over 20 feet, but there are remains (mostly skulls) from the others that would have come from individuals up to 22 feet or more.  One skull from India is claimed to have come from a 23 foot crocodile:

That’s more than a full 10% longer than Lolong.  

This, however, is the largest Saltwater crocodile skull in the world:

It’s 38.7 inches/98.3 cm long.

Crocodiles grow slowly and the laws have only been in place for a few decades.  The giants will make a comeback.

The Crocodylus genus is designed to produce bigger crocodiles.  Now that conservation laws have taken away their only natural predator, they are destined to thrive.  Evolution has produced almost nothing else that held the same perfect design for so long.  Climate change does present a significant threat to their reproduction, since their sex is determined by the temperature of the eggs.

Unfortunately as their numbers grow and their territory increasingly overlaps with ours, there are going to be more “problem crocodiles” that need relocating.  I’m against hunting them and hope they remain protected as much as possible, so when necessary I don’t at all see captivity as a bad thing for them.  Especially since their activity level is so low.  They do very well in healthy captivity because their only real needs are a stress free environment, consistent access to food, and safety from humans and larger crocodiles.  Captivity provides all of that for them.  If you’ve ever seen them in a zoo, they learn their routines and will be most active when they know it’s time for their food to be brought to them, and they’ll gather around the feeding area shortly beforehand.  Otherwise they just spend their time deciding whether floating in the water or basking on land is better for their digestion.

 They’re perfectly content to just sunbathe for 80 years.

It’s really not a bad life.