Durban - Tourists and locals were treated to a lunchtime special this week at Isimangaliso Wetland Park when a crocodile and a large eel engaged in a battle for survival.
Local tour operator, Tezz Olds from Bonana Tours, said she and her Canadian visitors had just set off on the midday boat cruise on the Santa Lucia in the St Lucia estuary, when they spotted their first crocodile of the day.
“It was moving slowly along the shallow sandbank when all of a sudden there was a dramatic splashing around and we realised it had caught an eel,” said Olds.
“This fascinating, albeit gruesome encounter lasted for several minutes,” said Olds who was quick enough to photograph the entire event.
She added that her visitors were very excited to have witnessed the brief battle, “we had lots of great sightings on that cruise, but that was definitely one of the highlights,” she said.
Isimangaliso Wetland Park chief executive, Andrew Zaloumis said yesterday that according to their ecological experts, eels are “not uncommon prey for crocodiles”.
“Crocs are opportunistic and will eat whatever they encounter: fish, animals, Jack Russells, fisherman… anything that strays close to the edge is potential prey,” said Zaloumis.
He added that there were eels in the Lake St Lucia estuarine system, which is the largest in Africa and that “there are likely to be more eels in the lake system at the moment, as the lake is open to the sea, which it has not been for some years.”
“In previous decades, eels were commonly encountered, but with the diminishing lake and species die-offs, they would be less common these days,” said Zaloumis.
With regard to the feeding habits of crocodiles, he said it is interesting to note that crocodiles’ energy needs were “only about 10 percent those of similarly sized mammals” and that a crocodile may be able to survive up to seven months without feeding.
“As they are cold-blooded, their metabolism and energy needs are much less,” he said.
Independent on Saturday