Animals That Can Kill Crocodiles Mercilessly

Jaguar The jaguar is the apex predator of South America. They have become experts at hunting caiman, the smaller cousin of the crocodile. They use stealth, speed and powerful jaws to overpower the caiman. The caiman is easier to find along the dried-up river banks during the dry season.

Lion Lions live in prides, so they have the advantage of teamwork when attacking a crocodile. The adults can take turns in distracting the crocodile while other lions bite with their teeth and slash with their claws. By doing this, they can overpower the crocodile, as a lion fighting a crocodile one-on-one would be extremely dangerous.

Leopard A leopard would only go after a crocodile if it were severely hungry and no other prey was available. Their jaws are strong enough to penetrate the crocodile’s thick hide. The leopard would use its stealth to sneak up from behind the crocodile before pouncing on top, using its weight to pin the crocodile down. 

African Fish Eagle The African fish eagle is a large bird of prey with a wingspan of 2.4 m (8 ft). Young crocodiles have little time to react to attacks from above, making them easy prey for the African fish eagle. 

Shoebill The shoe bill is an excellent bird at fishing, but it helps when you have one of the largest beaks. Their bill is 30 cm (12 in ) long and 13 cm (5 in) wide. They are scary-looking animals looking like a bird crossed with a dinosaur.

Goliath Heron The goliath heron’s diet primarily consists of fish but won’t turn down the occasional small crocodile. They are the largest heron species in sub-Saharan Africa, also known as giant herons. They hunt by standing in shallow water, waiting for prey to appear before spearing it with its peak.

Python Pythons and crocodiles are similar in considering any animal smaller than themselves to be prey. So pythons will only attempt to eat hatchlings and small crocodiles. Pythons are non-venomous snakes and kill their prey by constricting around the animal’s rib cage.

Nile Monitor Lizard The Nile monitor lizard is the largest lizard in Africa. The heaviest can weigh up to 20 kg (44 lbs) and be 2.4 m (8 ft) long. They love eating eggs, so they will seek out crocodile nesting sights they can find. Nile monitors are smart enough to work in pairs.

Goliath Tigerfish You may think it’s odd to find a fish on this list, but the goliath tigerfish is no ordinary fish. They are also known as Hydrocynus goliath, giant tigerfish or Mbenga. They are large freshwater fish living in the Congo River Basin in Africa.

Elephant Elephants will attack crocodiles at water and holes if their young are threatened with one swipe of their vast tusks that can be 2 m (6.5 ft) long. They can easily send a crocodile flying. They could flatten that crocodile with one stump using their colossal weight and strength.