Saltwater Crocodile

The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile, found in coastal wetlands, river mouths, mangroves and, occasionally, open ocean across a range stretching from eastern India through Southeast Asia to northern Australia. Adult males can exceed six metres in length, and the species is an opportunistic ambush predator capable of taking prey ranging from fish and crustaceans to large mammals, including livestock and, rarely, humans, which it drags underwater in a rolling motion after seizing it. Unusually tolerant of salt water among crocodilians thanks to specialized salt-excreting glands, it is able to travel long distances at sea between river systems and islands. Once hunted heavily for its skin and reduced across much of its range, the saltwater crocodile has recovered strongly in protected areas such as northern Australia, though it remains vulnerable or endangered in several other countries.