What eats the American crocodile?

Answer 1

Humans. Crocodiles are apex predators.The smaller the crocodile, the more vulnerable it is. Consider a little baby hatchling only 30 cm (12 inches) long - a nice easy snack for birds, carnivorous mammals, large reptiles, big fish and even large frogs! In fact, scientists estimate that about a quarter of all baby crocodiles die within a year of hatching, and less than 1 in 100 actually survives to 10 years of age. Being eaten by a predator is very common for crocodiles!

With increasing size, however, crocodiles become far less vulnerable to predators. Few animals could tackle a 10-foot crocodile and win, and virtually nothing can hope to escape an encounter with an 18-foot crocodile without losing its head! Larger crocodiles really only need to steer clear of other large crocodiles, humans with firearms and spears, and very angry large herbivores, such as elephants and hippos!

So it's all a matter of perspective. Lions and leopards can sometimes kill smaller crocodiles under 7 feet, but they wouldn't have much chance against a 14 footer weighing nearly half a ton. Crocodiles are fast and their strength is in their explosiveness, but if their bite doesn't connect with the attacker then it loses the initiative. With limited stamina compared with mammals, crocodiles tire easily and a persistent mammal can often get the upper hand. I've seen some interesting film of a pair of giant river otters attacking a black caiman in South America. The otters danced around the caiman, pawing at its tail. The caiman lashed out and lunged at its attackers, but within a few minutes it became so exhausted that the otters had a much easier time. Before long, they were feasting on its tail and the caiman could only sit and watch.