NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK- CROCODILES!! – BY GARETH JONES

It was a cold cloudy morning as I sat quietly at the Hyena dam, waiting and watching to see what bird action there was. Suddenly a movement caught my attention, the profile of a large crocodile was cruising across the water and was swimming towards me. Being a master of stealth the reptile reached the bank without being noticed, and then when the birds became aware, the peaceful scene erupted into an orchestra of panic sounds, and many of them were in a major flap, due to this “croc shock”. However the croc seemed to have a different motive, as it moved out of the water and onto the bank, in the hope of getting some daylight warmth. Crocodiles like all reptiles are cold blooded and often bask in the sun to absorb enough heat to regulate their bodies. Crocodiles use the water, sun and shade to maintain their preferred body temperature of 30–33°C. Crocodiles don’t sweat. To keep cool, they open their mouths in a process that is called “mouth gaping”, which is a lot like panting. When basking, they orientate their bodies to ensure the maximum surface area is exposed to the sun. Crocodiles are one of the few reptiles to have a 4-chambered heart (like mammals).

I have seen this crocodile at the Hyena dam on a number of occasions, what impressed me was the fact that Hyena dam is quite a few kilometers from the Athi River where most Crocodiles can be found. I ask myself questions, like … Why go so far inland? How did this crocodile sense there was a dam here? Perhaps the crocodiles move upstream in times of heavy wet season rains? In the past there were crocodiles in the swampy land that much of lower Nairobi is now developed on, are some of the current crocodiles there direct descendants? However irrespective of how and why? Crocodiles seem to be thriving in a number of dams in the Nairobi National Park.

Last year we witnessed an incredible event at the Hyena dam in the Nairobi National Park. A fish eagle landed on the bank of the dam and stood for a while. Then its suddenly took off, and flew rapidly up as it swooped and dived down with its talons outstretched, as if to try and catch a nice big fish, however this “big fish” turned out to be a crocodile. The crocodile responded in a flash and nearly succeeded in pulling the fish eagle under the water. After a brief struggle, amazingly the fish eagle had enough strength to break free …..and live another day!!! I wonder if the fish eagle saw movement near the water surface and mistakenly tried to catch a “big fish“ crocodile? It’s difficult to try and understand why? One probability is that the angle of the sun on the water might had a blinding refection that only allowed the fish eagle partial sight, as it saw a flash of movement on the top of the water. That flash of movement was most likely the snout of a crocodile that I estimate was over 2 meters in length. The fish eagle actually flew directly onto the head of the crocodile with its talons trying to grab this “big fish”. We truly did witness a very rare occurrence. Apart from this interesting incident I also love the actual unique call of the fish eagle, in fact every time I hear that call it is a powerful reminder of the natural voice of Africa.

Crocodiles are found in many places in Africa, there are three species of which the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is the largest living for about 80 years, and growing up to about 5 metres, (with a record 6.5 metres specimen weighing 1090kg). 99% of the crocodile offspring are eaten in the first year of life by large fish, monitor lizards, herons and … adult crocodiles. In most voluntary dives, crocodiles stay underwater for between 10 to 15 minutes. If the crocodile is trying to hide from a threat, dive length may be longer, up to 30 minutes or more. A female crocodile lays 20-80 eggs. However only less than 2% of baby crocodiles, actually make it to adulthood. There are many other species that prey on baby crocodiles, including birds and Nile monitor lizards. They have a reputation of being very stealthy hunters, waiting patiently beneath the water for their unsuspecting prey, then striking at a lightning speed to kill. A few weeks ago we saw a zebra that had just minutes before escaped from the jaws of a large crocodile as it was quenching its thirst in the Athi dam. Some zebra have a habit of walking into the water to a depth that covers them up to their chest. No doubt crocodiles must like this habit as it makes zebra an
easier target. The zebra we saw had terrible ripping wounds on its chest and front legs. However just last week we saw a report with a photo of the same zebra, still alive, and the wounds were actually healing and looking much better. Wow! what a tough minded zebra, we did pray that this zebra would make it, and to our surprise it did! Us humans are very weak compared to what some animals go through.

Watch out for these reptiles next time you visit the Nairobi park!

The park is open daily from 06h00 to 19h00.

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