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Animal World
Nile Crocodile — photograph 1
📷 Wikimedia Commons · Free License
IUCN: Least Concern

Nile Crocodile

Crocodylus niloticus

KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassReptilia›OrderCrocodilia›FamilyCrocodylidae›GenusCrocodylus
About

The Nile crocodile is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and central regions of the continent, and lives in different types of aquatic environments such as lakes, rivers, swamps and marshlands. It occasionally inhabits deltas, brackish lakes and rarely also saltwater.

Its range once stretched from the Nile Delta throughout the Nile River. Lake Turkana in Kenya has one of the largest undisturbed Nile crocodile populations.

Key Facts
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Habitat
Rivers, freshwater lakes, marshes, and mangroves of Africa
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Diet
Carnivore — fish, wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, hippos (occasional)
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Size & Weight
Males up to 5.5 m; weight up to 750 kg
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Lifespan
70–100 years
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Range
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Nile basin
ReptileCrocodilian
Photo Credits
#1Wikimedia Commons · Free License
#2Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0
#3iNaturalist observer · CC0
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