Farming Overview
Introduction
Crocodiles have been stringently conserved in
The Nile crocodile (Crocodylus Niloticus, also known as Mamba, Garwe, Ngwenya) can grow up to 6 metres in length, and can live for up to 100 years. Breeding females produces ± 50 hatchings once a year. Currently we raise hatchlings until they are ready to be culled for the skins and meat. It takes 30 to 36 months for the hatchling to reach the acquired length of 1,2 to 1,6 m. All skins get exported to the Far East and
Conservation measures have helped to make this species' position more secure, but certain populations are still depleted.
Our facility currently caters for the two stages of development. Firstly we have a controlled environmental building where we keep the temperature at a constant 30ºC. The hatchlings stay in here from birth - January/February until October, when they are strong enough and are then moved to the outside “grower” areas. The two grower areas combined totals 1500m² - where the number of one to three-year-olds varies from 1m to 1,6m. Our plans are to extend the current facilities to cater for 3000 hatchlings and 5000 grower crocodiles.
Crocodile farming is described as an emerging industry and as such has less experience with commercial intensive livestock principles than the more established industries such as pig and poultry. Despite this comparative lack of intensive livestock skills, the crocodile industry is making good progress in closing the gap. Crocodile farming is moving from extensive outdoor practices, which are much influenced by climatic conditions to intensive housing with some environmentally controlled housing being used for hatchlings on commercial farms. Several producers are going a step further and creating individual pens for grower animals to reduce fighting and subsequent skin damage, thus placing a more valuable product in the market. Such practices lead to a better return on investment. There is no standard method of rearing crocodiles. Farms have developed systems that suit their own particular establishment and situation.
Breeding Stock
Croc
Feeding
Our hatchlings, which are in the controlled environmental building, are fed daily. Young crocodiles are very susceptible to infections, which usually cause high mortalities. The young crocodiles' immune system does not function efficiently at temperatures below 23º Celsius and so warmth needs to be provided especially through winter. We manufacture our own special formula of vitamins and mineral pellets. These pellets ensure that all hatchlings get a healthy balanced diet. Pellets are more hygienic than meat, as meat poses a health problem in an enclosed area where micro-organisms flourish in these surroundings. We maintain high levels of bio-security - all boots, clothes, and food processing equipment are sterilised regularly to ensure a germ free environment for the hatchlings. The pellets are made every second day and wind dried - it looks similar to dog/cat pellets that you buy at supermarkets with the difference in a high quality and safe pellet.
The grower crocodiles are being fed chickens. All crocodiles in the grower areas are fed as much as they can safely consume, with the purpose of ensuring the crocodiles are the size required, when they are sold, 1.2 m• 1.6 m. We collect “fresh” chicken mortalities from local chicken farmers in the area on a daily basis. We are providing a service to the chicken farmers in the disposal of their dead chickens. Rations are measured out according to the nutritional needs of the crocodiles. Grower crocs are fed daily with the number of chickens varying from summer to winter. During the winter months crocs do not actively feed as their metabolism is slowed by insufficient warmth. Crocodiles are cold-blooded reptiles. As the temperature increases, so does the amount of food consumed by the crocs, which means they grow quicker. The total weight of chickens currently fed per year is around 20 tonnes.
Cleaning of facilities
We maintain high levels of bio-security - all boots, clothes, and food processing equipment are sterilised regularly to ensure a germ free environment for all crocodiles. The building is cleaned daily and the “grower” pens twice a week. We ensure that clean water is readily available as to guarantee our animals health.
Incubation
The eggs are removed from the nests soon after laying and placed into incubators. The incubation of crocodile eggs is a lot simpler than poultry eggs, as the incubation temperature can vary from 28 to 33 degrees Celsius. Crocodile eggs must never be turned as the embryo's air sac develops in relation to its position. Another unique characteristic of crocodiles is that crocodiles have no sex chromosomes. In other words the sex of the hatchlings are dependant on another source for their determination i.e. temperature. A general rule of thumb is that males are hatched under warmer incubation temperatures than females. We are not highly concerned about sex determination of the crocodiles as both sexes do equally well under intensive conditions. Males do generally grow quicker than females in their natural environment. The reason behind temperature dependant sex determination (TSD) is that nature controls the male and female numbers in the wild. Incubation period is 90 days.
Hatching
Each clutch has a card, indicating the expected hatch date. On that date, the clutch is removed from the incubation room and moved to the hatch room where the juveniles can hatch and be easily observed. It can take up to 48 hours for all the hatchlings in a clutch to hatch. The hatch room conditions are very similar to the incubator with water provided for the hatchlings while they wait for the others to emerge from the egg. Once hatching is complete the hatchlings are disinfected and cleaned before being recorded and moved to the controlled environmental building. Hatching takes place in January and February.
Conservation
When considering its total distribution and status, the Nile crocodile is not considered seriously endangered per se, although in some areas it is badly depleted and in danger of being extirpated from some countries. Extensive population surveys in some areas have contributed to sustainable-yield management programs, mainly in southern and eastern African countries. These have been part of the monitoring necessary for those countries trying to establish sustainable use programs encouraged by IUCN and CITES. Central and western countries have seen much fewer population surveys conducted, and in general most countries (two thirds of African countries) have very little
After a population decline around the middle of the century due to over-hunting, legal protection has resulted in significant recoveries in several areas, and large populations can now be found (e.g.
Further conservation goals should include detailed surveys in western and central African countries, and the nurturing of newly established management programs. Ecological research into population dynamics should also provide valuable