About the Author

Werner Breedt

Field Guide

Werner guided at Londolozi from 2014-2016, but misses it so much now that he is based down in the Western Cape, that he begged to be able to continue contributing to the blog. Look out for his posts on a wide range of ...

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11 Comments

on Londolozi’s REAL Apex Predator

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It is crazy that a croc can successfully pull a full grown male lion from the shore into the water and attack from water only inches deep. It must have been a very large croc. Perhaps other crocs joined in the tug of war during the struggle. Very sad for the lion and his partner. It shows how indiscriminate crocs when hunting.

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A male lions bite force is around 600 psi, a Nile crocodile’s bite force is around 5000 psi.. They are certainly a force to be reckoned with.

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eeeeeeekkk!! Croc are scary and your Nile Crocs are the biggest in the world.. I agree they are probably the Apex predator.

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I truly hate crocodiles and alligators, equally. I understand their function, but I hate them because they are unseen, unheard and totally unpredictable. They will jump from nowhere, underwater or on land to entrap their prey. OR, they will lounge….as I said unpredictable. There are NO warning signs and they are lethal. Every time we encountered one, I was happy to move on. Yes, they are the apex predator.

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I have to admit, I really dislike crocodiles and find them terrifying. What a horrible death for the poor Shaws male lion. I definitely won’t be standing close to the water when I’m there next!

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Good blog post, Werner! Must have given the Shaws Lions one helluva surprise that morning. Keep telling us your Londolozi bush stories, we love reading them. A big hello from St Emilion, hope all is well with you and the Londolozi gang.

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Thanks for the comments everyone! I understand why the thought of a crocodile conjures up fear! However, like everyone said, they are an integral part of the ecosystem and are extremely effective and efficient. Just the thought of being close to water scares most already, imagine having to drink water on a daily basis knowing that a crocodile might be skulking around a couple of feet away….

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Very frightening Werner, no wonder the Lions and Leopaeds prefer the rain puddles! How do the crocodiles manage when the water levels drop so low, as they are now?

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These animals are so hardy Jill! Another reason they are so successful! As the water levels drop the crocodiles tend to congregate in the larger and deeper water bodies, where they prefer to inhabit the shallower waters at the pool edges. If no water is available they have been documeneted moving into muddy holes and staying there for extended periods of time until rains fall. They can then shut down their metabolism and could go without food for almost two years

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Incredible encounter. A male lion is as equally capable of killing a large crocodile caught on land away from water though I am sure. Both are apex predators in their two separate environments

I have to say, that I disagree to call crocodiles the apex predators of Africa because of 1-2 cases, when there are countless of accounts lions killing crocodiles, big ones too. This kind of surprise attack can be lethal as this case show. Still in most known cases lions are able to fight back and get rid of crocodile. When looking at known cases (which can be found with relative ease) lions look like to dominate crocodiles. That is why I call lion as the apex predator of Africa, even over crocodile, which is strong competitor. Numbers just are on the lions side.

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