If you harbor a great love or fascination for these ancient creatures, or if they terrify you, feeding a crocodile may be just what you need on your bucket list – why? Because these apex predators have ruled rivers and swamps around the world for hundreds of thousands of years and feeding one (not by hand – don’t panic!) may be just what you need to understand the power and nature of these creatures.
Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal, with a bite force of over 5,000 pounds per square inch. They feed on practically anything they can get their jaws on, but mainly small mammals, birds, fish, crustaceans, frogs and insects, though larger crocodiles will take on larger mammals standing on the riverbank.
Crocodiles don’t chew their food – as you’ll see when you have your crocodile feeding experience – but instead use their teeth to tear flesh and swallow large portions. Crocodile’s typically have 64 teeth that are hollow, with new teeth growing inside the old ones. A crocodile can go through as many as 3,000 teeth in their lifetime!
Where can you feed a crocodile? Whatever you do, don’t walk up to one in the wild and try to feed it, instead, go to a park or a reserve that allows you to feed them under the watchful eye of their keeper who will guide you how to do it safely.
If you want to find a crocodile feeding experience, look for “keeper experiences” at your local zoos and ask any you find if they allow you to help feed the crocodiles. If you’re traveling abroad (or already live near one of these locations), try the Crocodile Feeding Experience in Darwin, Australia, where you can take part in the feeding show, as well as hold and interact with a whole host of other reptiles and aquatic animals and fish.
You’ll also find crocodile feeding experiences at reptile and crocodile parks across Asia, so if you’re planning to travel in Asia, this may be a perfect addition to your travel bucket list!
For more unique bucket list ideas, or to start a bucket list of your own, go to Buckil to go to our bucket list maker, or search for the Buckil bucket list app on Google Play for Android or the App Store for iOS.
