Crocodiles are known as the "Kings of the Water", which is enough to prove their absolute strength in the water. With their unique physiological structure and ruthless hunting methods, they have become the top predators in the aquatic ecological chain.
As long as the creature dares to approach the river , they can eat it, even large beasts such as lions and tigers are not immune to its poisonous hands. Many lions have to be careful when they go to the river to drink water.
But those who observe carefully Everyone has seen that crocodiles can eat even lions, but not hippos. You must know that the living areas of hippos and crocodiles overlap, but the two live a life of well water and river water. How is this going on?
First of all, we need to know about crocodiles. How strong is the strength? The size of crocodiles ranges from one meter to five meters. Different types of crocodiles have different body shapes and different fighting capabilities. The Nile crocodile in Africa is larger and often lives in the river with hippos. The size of this crocodile is usually He is three meters tall and weighs about 400 kilograms.
Even so, they still swim very fast. Nile crocodiles have strong limbs and tails that allow them to swim quickly in water and move quickly on land.
Secondly, the bite force of crocodiles Very powerful, their teeth are sharp and hard, and can easily crush the bones of their prey. Once prey is bitten by a crocodile, it is almost impossible to escape.
Crocodiles also have hard and elastic skin, which not only effectively resists prey attacks, but also provides good protection in the water. At the same time, crocodile scales also provide them with additional protection. defense, which makes crocodiles excellent predators.
They usually lurk near the water. Or in shallow water areas, wait for the prey to approach, and then use its excellent camouflage ability to make itself almost invisible in the water. Once the prey enters the attack range, the crocodile will quickly attack and subdue the prey with a powerful bite force.
But they are so powerful. With his strength, he conquered the lion, the king of land, but could not conquer the hippopotamus. There are many reasons for this.
First of all, hippopotamus are large and powerful animals. The body length is 2 to 5 meters, which is about the same as a crocodile, but its weight is much higher than that of a crocodile. Hippos can weigh up to 3 to 4 tons. This size gives them great strength and can effectively deter crocodiles.
And, the skin on hippos? It is extremely thick, reaching 5 cm, and has a large amount of fat stored under the skin, providing it with a solid defense. This size and skin thickness allow hippos to effectively protect themselves in the face of many potential threats.
Secondly, hippos not only have extremely large tusks, which can reach 60 to 70 centimeters in length, but also have amazing bite force. As the animal with the largest mouth on land, the bite force of an adult hippopotamus can reach more than 800 kilograms. This strength allows the hippopotamus to bite off the crocodile with ease, demonstrating its dominance in the water.
It's a pity that hippos are vegetarians. This makes the crocodile even more famous. In the eyes of many people, hippos usually behave relatively quietly, have a docile temperament, and are large and clumsy.
In fact, they are aggressive aspects cannot be underestimated. Once they lose their temper, they will show strong aggression. They can stab each other with their sharp teeth. This strong aggression makes hippos an animal that is feared by crocodiles. Therefore, they often rescue zebras and other vegetarian animals that have fallen into the water from the mouths of crocodiles, which is admirable.
More importantly, hippos They are social animals. They usually live together. Sometimes the entire lake is filled with hippos. They are also very united. Whenever one of their companions is in danger, many hippos will show up. In this case, unless the crocodile doesn't want to hang out in the lake, don't anger the hippo.
Crocodiles are opportunistic. Predators tend to prey on easier-to-catch prey, such as fish, waterfowl, deer, frogs and other weak, easy-to-catch prey.
Of course, there are fewer hippos in some lakes, and crocodiles will attack hippos when they encounter some weak hippos.
It follows that crocodiles don't eat hippos. Eating hippos is not because their meat is too unpalatable, but because their size and other factors make them difficult prey for crocodiles to deal with. What do you think of it?
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