Zebras have no choice but to cross this river! This gruesome footage was captured at a crossing of the Mara River where several species of animals, including zebras, cross to get to more fertile feeding grounds during migration. That sounds great in theory, but in practice there are hazards along the way and a bunch of hungry Nile crocodiles is a hazard that no zebra wants to run into!
Nile Crocodiles Hunting Together
Nile crocodiles have a reputation for being highly aggressive and are not an animal that you think would co-operate with each other. But they do! By working as a team, they give themselves a better chance of bringing down a large animal like a zebra. As the video at the bottom of this page shows, zebras do not exactly give in easily. They are very strong and agile creatures who can leap out of a crocodile’s jaws. They also have a strong kick and when there are a lot of them running around it can confuse and disorientate a predator. A group of zebras is not called a dazzle for nothing!
The crocodiles are not easy to spot in this choppy and muddy water and one comes from nowhere to snap at a zebra. The poor creature leaps right out of the water in fright but the crocodile has hold of its leg.
©Henk Bogaard/Shutterstock.com
Not a Great Day For The Zebra
Once the zebra begins to struggle, the rest of the crocodiles join in with the kill. Zebras can weigh over 900 pounds and a single crocodile may struggle to keep hold of it.
It is a startling and upsetting sight to watch this lovely creature being gradually pulled under the water. The crocodiles literally take chunks out of its flesh before it is even dead. Nile crocodiles have a bite force of up to 5,000psi!
These huge reptiles are apex predators and also hunt buffalo and antelope. They will even eat smaller hippos. A group of crocodiles in the water is called a float but these guys are doing a lot more than floating! Before long, there is very little of the zebra left to see – it really was a feeding frenzy!
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