'Amazing' scene captured as crocodile goes on 7km journey with feral invader

Yahoo

6 days ago

When you live in the 'Top End' of Australia, it's amazing what you can see on your work break.
That was the case for photographer and crocodile expert David White who takes tourists on cruises on the Daintree River in Far North Queensland. But between boat rides this week he managed to stalk a young and ambitious crocodile who happened upon a solid meal before taking it on a seven kilometre ride.
David was on his smaller zero emissions cruise boat with his camera gear and drone when he spotted the scene this week.
"It's electric and nice and quiet," he told Yahoo News.
It allowed him to get quite close to the crocodile, affectionately known as Nate, when he poached the dead feral pig from another male's territory.
A stunning image captured the moment the croc claimed his prize under a ceiling of mangroves.
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"He's not the dominant male here, that's Scarface – he is our boss crocodile. And Scarface has another boss at each end of his territory ... but you got this young Nate, a sneaky one, who sneaks around behind their backs and when no one is looking he adds to the gene pool," David explained.
"I followed him and he just kept on going. He went a long way – seven kilometres down the river. I had to get back to do another cruise, but he kept on going.
"He took it through Scarface's territory, through another male's territory ... It was amazing."
At one point, a female crocodile tried to join the party, David recalled, as it followed along hoping to get a piece of the action, but was ultimately denied.
"Crocs can't always eat their piggies straight away because their teeth are sort of cone shaped," he explained. They're great for catching and throttling prey but not quite so good for chewing.
"So they've got to marinate it a bit, so he took it down somewhere secretive, up a little creek, I guess, to let it soften up a bit".
"One less feral pig," David said when sharing the scene online this week.
Feral pigs a major part of Australia's invasive pest problem
This feral pig was dead when the crocodile found it, and it's unclear what killed it. But the species doesn't have to worry about too much as they plunder their adopted environment, causing an estimated $100 million economic burden on Australia's agricultural sector every year.
Saltwater crocs love eating feral pigs, says Deakin University ecologist Euan Ritchie. While that's good news, we don't exactly know how useful they are at helping reduce feral pig numbers.
"Pigs and crocodiles live in the fast and slow lanes, respectively," he wrote in The Conversation last year, referring to the habits and breeding rates of both animals, in particular the prolific breeding of pigs. "This means feral pigs can endure relatively high predation rates and still persist in ecosystems in large numbers."
Speaking to Yahoo News last week, Professor Ritchie lamented the persistent ecological issues posed by a slew of invasive species on Australia's landscape.
"In northern Australia ... some areas have feral donkeys, feral horses, feral cattle, feral water buffalo and feral pigs, all in the same area," he said.
"In arid Australia, feral camels, feral donkeys, feral horses, feral cattle, feral goats and introduced European rabbits may all co-occur."