Mother Croc

Mother Croc - No animal is heartless

Mother Croc was a programme on NG Wild about Nile Crocodiles as mothers; it shows you how they are not cold-blooded heartless killers but dedicated, loving mothers who will do all sorts to protect their babies. It was filmed in Tanzania, Africa and not only tells the story of mother crocodiles but also shows some amazing footage not only of crocodiles but also of other African wildlife such as cheetahs and hippopotamus! It really is a must see!!

Crocodiles will gorge on food before June in order to build up fat reserves for the drought, this usually involves them eating animals such as zebras. In June, the rivers dry up and the crocodiles tend to only eat fish, this is also around the time that they tend to mate and lay their eggs. They can lay as many as 60 eggs at a time! They tend to build nests across the river bed and will usually nest next to other nesting females; if they nest away from the others then their eggs are a lot less likely to survive. Females will then guard their nests for around the next 3 months normally without eating and never leaving it for very long! The biggest danger to the Nile Crocodiles eggs is the Nile Monitor; throughout the incubation period of the eggs the mother crocodile will constantly be harassed by this creature. The only reason a mother crocodile will leave its egg is so that it can return to the water or seek out some shade to cool down, without doing this the animal will lose all of its energy and therefore not be able to protect the eggs. Another reason for them to leave the nest is that if they nest on their own away from the others it will be very hard for them to keep the nest secluded and if it gets invaded they may retreat. Crocodile eggs need moisture but if there is too much then the embryos can drown so crocodiles are very careful about where they build their nests. 30 degrees celcius is the perfect temperature for the eggs to mature but the mothers can't stay in the sun at this temperature for more than ten minutes. The temperature also determines the sex of the eggs; cooler temperatures produce more females and warmer temperatures produce more males. October is roughly when the eggs start to hatch; they call out to their mothers who then dig them up, place them gently in their mouths and carry them down to the river. The eggs normally hatch within hours of each other so the mother is likely to be doing this all day or night. Due to crocodile mothers commonly nesting so near to each other they can sometimes become confused as to which nest is who's and so this can cause conflict but in the end, for their babies, crocodiles will often team up to raise the young they are fighting over in order to give them a better chance of survival! The mothers will then care for their offspring for months after they have hatched so that their babies have the best chance!

A certain type of African bird also pays an important role in assisting this process because they actually lay their own eggs around where the crocodiles are nesting and they then help to scare away the Nile Monitors in return for the crocodiles to protect them from other predators such as hippopotamus. The birds eggs even hatch the same time as the crocodiles eggs so that they get to leave the banks of the river when the crocodiles do!

As you can see, you gain a lot of information from programmes like these and I think they are truly amazing! They show an whole new side to animals that so many people are scared of and they help people to relate to them. I really do think that programmes like this are going to be a massive help with conservation efforts of certain species and that they could even save whole species of animals in the future! How could you still hate an animal that is so dedicated to its future and its babies!?