Range

Orinoco crocodiles can, as their name suggests, be found in the Orinoco river basin in South America. The countries they range across include Colombia and Venezuela.

Habitat

They make their home in rivers and streams which may be located in forests, savannas and wetlands.

-- AD --

Reproduction

Nesting takes place during the dry season from January to February.

Up to 70 eggs are laid in a nest. This nest is a hole which is excavated by the female in a sandbar or river bank. These eggs will take around 3 months to hatch.

Eggs face predation from vultures and lizards despite the mother providing some protection for the nest.

The gender of the hatchlings is dependent on temperature. As the eggs are buried at different temperatures it is possible for both genders to hatch in one nest.

Once they are ready to hatch they can free themselves from their eggs. They may survive for the first few days of their life off of the remaining egg yolk.

Sexual maturity is tied to length and is typically achieved at 1.8m (6ft) long.

Behavior

During the dry season they may dig a burrow in the riverbank in which it can rest.

They communicate by bellowing with males having a lower pitch than females. Tail thrashing and head slapping also help with communication.

Predators and Threats

Their large size and thick skin mean they have few natural predators. Humans previously had a large effect on the population of crocodiles through over harvesting mostly for their skin. This has now mostly ceased though some small amounts are hunted for food and due to a fear of crocodiles.

Habitat change, fragmentation and pollution also affect their population.

Quick facts

Their scientific name ‘intermedius‘ references the shape of their snout. This is midway between the V-shaped snout of most crocodiles and the parallel sided snout of a gharial.

This scientific name was given to them by Alexander von Humboldt during his expedition in South America from 1799 to 1804.