{"id":274713,"date":"2026-02-09T03:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/274713\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T03:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:39:07","slug":"do-crocodiles-get-a-taste-for-human-flesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/274713\/","title":{"rendered":"Do crocodiles get a taste for human flesh?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With their huge armoured bodies, impressive bite force and ambush hunting strategy,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/facts-about-saltwater-crocodile\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saltwater crocodiles<\/a>\u00a0are a force to be reckoned with, says Melissa Hobson. Victims of these sly reptiles often have no idea there was anything in the water until the moment the croc chooses to pounce.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to the IUCN\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iucncsg.org\/pages\/Crocodilian-Attacks.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Crocodile Specialist Group,<\/a>\u00a0eight of the 26 crocodilian species \u2013 including saltwater crocs \u2013 are known to regularly attack people. Negative encounters can be due to the animal trying to hunt, defend itself, its young or its territory, mistaken identity or the croc being attracted by fishing nets or catch.<\/p>\n<p>Large crocodiles can see humans as prey, according to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iucncsg.org\/pages\/Crocodilian-Attacks.html#:~:text=Arguably%2C%20for%20large%20crocodilians%20that,like%20washing%2C%20swimming%20or%20crossing.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">IUCN<\/a>, and some seem to have learned to target people in places where they regularly come to the waterfront \u2013 for example to swim, bathe or wash their clothes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t necessarily because they like the taste of human meat but probably because salties are opportunistic hunters. They have a varied diet which can include small animals \u2013 such as insects, fish and birds \u2013 to larger prey, including cattle,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/becrocwise.nt.gov.au\/about-crocodiles\/saltwater-crocodiles#:~:text=The%20size%20of%20the%20saltwater,wild%20boar%20and%20mud%20crabs.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">buffalo<\/a>\u00a0and even\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-australia-34991815\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">other saltwater crocodiles<\/a>. Sometimes, that can include an unlucky human if the croc knows exactly where to lie in wait for someone to come close to the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Food conditioning can cause crocs to become a risk to public safety. When people feed the crocs, these wild animals can start to associate humans with food. Over time, they lose their fear of people and might even seek out humans, or become more aggressive, which can increase the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/ive-researched-crocodile-attacks-for-years-videos-of-people-feeding-crocodiles-at-site-of-latest-attack-are-deeply-concerning-236247\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">chances of an attack.<\/a>\u00a0That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to never feed crocodiles or clean or gut fish near the water.<\/p>\n<p>When an incident occurs, it\u2019s not just the person who can be harmed. Often, the offending\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.edo.org.au\/2023\/04\/06\/legal-push-to-stop-influencers-taunting-crocodiles-for-likes-and-clicks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">croc<\/a>\u00a0is put down or taken into captivity. Crocodiles have such a good homing instinct that it\u2019s not possible to relocate them \u2013 they can swim\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.qld.gov.au\/environment\/plants-animals\/animals\/living-with\/crocodiles\/crocodile-management\/frequently-asked-questions#release-captured\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hundreds of miles<\/a>\u00a0back to their territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As with any wild predators, it\u2019s always sensible to be cautious if you\u2019re in salty territory. Don\u2019t trail your arms or legs over the side of the boat, keep well away from the water while camping, use a torch at night, and make sure kids and dogs don\u2019t approach the water\u2019s edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With their huge armoured bodies, impressive bite force and ambush hunting strategy,\u00a0saltwater crocodiles\u00a0are a force to be reckoned&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-274713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}