By Josie December 11th, 2023
In a surprising twist of ecological interplay, Australia’s crocodile population skyrockets due to a change in their diet: feasting on feral pigs.
Often regarded as a nuisance for their ecological and agricultural impacts, wild pigs unexpectedly played a crucial role in the sudden boom of the crocodile population.
Their foraging behavior leads to extensive habitat destruction, soil erosion, and impacts on water quality.
These pigs have become a primary food source for saltwater crocodiles.
As a result, the crocodile population is growing big and strong following the many feasts (and sometimes violent, as the picture shows.)
Exploiting and exploring new food sources like feral pigs has been crucial in their population recovery, highlighting the dynamic nature of predator-prey relationships in the wild.
Australia’s crocodile population has made a dramatic comeback from the brink of extinction in the 20th century.
From a mere few thousand individuals in the 1970s, the crocodile population in the Northern Territory has surged to over 100,000 adults.
This remarkable recovery is not just a success story of conservation but also a message that life changes, and we must change with it.