About Saltwater Crocodile:
- It is the largest and heaviest of all living reptiles in the world.
- Other Names: Estuarine crocodile, Indo-Pacific crocodile, marine crocodile, sea crocodile, or informally as saltie.
- It is an opportunistic hypercarnivorous apex predator.
- Habitat: It inhibits in saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands, rivers and mangroves.
- Distribution: It is found in India’s east coast, Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region and northern Australia and Micronesia.
- In India, these are distributed in Odisha and West Bengal and the coastal areas of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Odisha has India’s largest population of saltwater crocodile in natural habitat.
- Features of Saltwater Crocodile
- They are solitary creatures, especially when it comes to adult males.
- They are highly territorial, with large male saltwater crocodiles often controlling extensive stretches of rivers, estuaries, or coastlines.
- Conservation Status: It is categorized as ‘Least Concern’ under the IUCN Red List.
