A new section has been added to the Wildlife Pictures Online Gallery, featuring 18 Nile crocodile pictures – see thumbnails below.

If you’d like to find out more about these dangerous yet fascinating reptiles, we also have an article by safari guide Roddy Smith that dispels many long-held myths about the Nile crocodile, Africa’s largest crocodilian — see The Nile Crocodile – Sranger than Fiction.

Glistening hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) walking through shallows of dam toward the banks, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Camera: Canon EOS 400D (Digital Rebel XTi); Lens: Canon EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal Length: 200mm; Shutter speed: 1/400; Aperture: f8; ISO: 200.

Additional Info: In the background, five or six Nile crocodiles can be seen lying at the water’s edge and behind them, a couple of hippos looking for green shoots to graze. Hippos and crocs are often seen in close proximity as they share a common habitat in the form of river pools, pans, estuaries and dams, that is often limited in area.

Fortunately, they don’t compete for the same food sources — crocodiles eat meat (mainly fish but also small to medium mammals), while hippos are strictly vegetarian, living solely on plant material. This allows hippos and crocodiles to live amicably together, while keeping a healthy respect for each other.

In his book, Beat About the Bush – Mammals, author Trevor Carnaby says that “a full-grown hippo is more than a match for any crocodile, but baby hippos left unattended are at risk. The fact that hippos with babies are sociable, staying relatively close to one another, and that mother hippos with infants keep them in the shallows, makes attack by crocs highly unlikely. When pools start to dry up, hippos have the upper hand in terms of sheer bulk, and drive away crocs …”

There have been some quite amazing pictures published recently in various online newspapers showing a crocodile walking across the top of a group of tightly packed hippos until one of the hippos takes umbrage and clamps its massive jaws over the croc’s upper body, apparently killing it.

This is clearly unusual behavior and Czech wildlife photographer Vaclav Silha, who took the pictures from the banks of the Grumeti River in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, provides his on-the-spot version of events in this Telegraph article.

Caption: Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) stands up on its legs from a lying position before entering the water, Nyamithi Pan, Ndumo Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Camera: Canon EOS 450D (Canon Rebel XSi 12.2MP); Lens: Canon EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal Length: 210mm; Shutter speed: 1/160; Aperture: f8; ISO: 800; 29 July 2009, 4.55pm.

An adult Nile crocodile can weigh 500 to 600 kilograms (1,100 to 1,300 lbs)and a large one, when standing on all fours, will reach up to man’s waist.

It’s worth remembering though that there are numerous myths and legends about crocodiles, and their size, in particular, is often exaggerated. To find out more about these fascinating and dangerous reptiles, read Roddy Smith’s article, Nile Crocodile – Stranger than Fiction. See also our previous blog post, Nile Crocodile with Jaws Open.

Caption: Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) catching last rays of the afternoon sun on the banks of Nyamithi Pan, Ndumo Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Camera: Canon EOS 450D (Canon Rebel XSi 12.2MP); Lens: Canon EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal Length: 300mm; Shutter speed: 1/320; Aperture: f8; ISO: 800; 29 July 2009, 4.43pm.

Crocodiles will often be seen lying on the banks of rivers or lakes with their mouths open and jaws agape, showing off their fearsome teeth (as in the picture above). This is a way of releasing heat and cooling their bodies as they do not have sweat glands.

Crocs are cold-blooded predators and can survive long periods without food, so will only rarely go out actively hunting. They appear lethargic and slow moving, but can move quickly over land and in water and are successful predators within their environment.