Wildebeest, also called gnus, are
members of the antelope family.
They are related to oryxes and gazelles.
More than 1.5 million wildebeest
migrate in an enormous loop every
year. The annual migration northwest,
at the end of the rainy season,
usually in May or June. For
wildebeest, the yearly migration
across the river can mean life or death.
Its migration route crosses many rivers,
most filled with
giant Nile crocodiles.
When underwater,
crocodiles have the most advantage over
large prey like wildebeest due to
their long, heavy bodies and stubby
legs.
Crocodiles, like other
opportunistic predators, wait
patiently under the surface of the
water's edge for potential prey to
come to a halt and take a drink.
They'll eat
something that fits between their jaws.
With a flick of
their powerful tail, they burst out of
the water, caught their victim, and
pulled them back, dragging them down
until the animal drowned. After that,
they will becomes more and more
overwhelmed by the water and the
crocodile's persistent pull.
The crocodile's jaw was
crucial to his prey's survival.
Their strong jaws are enormous.
They have the most
powerful bite of any creature.
Large crocodiles can bite
with over 5000 pounds per square
inch of power.
That's more powerful than a Rottweiler, a
hyena, or a great white shark.
Crocodiles will clamp down on their
prey with that massive jaws,
crush it, and then they
will swallow the prey whole.
They do not have the
capability to chew or break off small
pieces of food like other animals.
In addition, very thick
skin also plays a role.
The skin on their back contains
bony structures (called osteoderms)
that make the skin bulletproof.
The creatures’ carcasses
feed more than a
bunch of fat crocodiles.
They nourish an entire
ecosystem of river fish, plants,
microorganisms, hyenas,
birds and even hippopotamuses.
Zebras are African
equines with distinctive black
and white striped coats.
Zebras are social animals and
live in small groups, called
harems, or large herds.
These herbivores are
preyed upon by carnivores that
share their habitat and by humans.
The river is one of the
most common places for one animal to
attack another, since most animals
must go to a place to drink.
This is an ideal place for
predators to wait and just let the
prey come to them when they are
hungry. The Nile crocodiles are found
in most of central and southern
Africa's main waterways. This
ambush predator will attack almost
anything that crosses its path.
Zebras are at great risk from crocodile
attack when they swim across rivers
or drink from water sources.
The crocodile not always
managed to get its
prey, because the zebra's legs and
agile movements to escape.
Crocodiles
are ambush predators with very strong
bite force and sharp plus conical teeth.
That factors making it almost impossible
for prey to escape from its grip.
Although crocodiles can catch and eat
larger mammals, zebras and other
antelopes are not their main diet.
Hippos are huge animals with
fearsome tusks and aggressive natures,
but they mainly eat plants.
Sometimes they attack people
and can tangle with crocodiles. But,
there are scattered reports by
scientists and amateur observers of
hippos attacking, killing, and eating
other animals, stealing kills from
predators, and scavenging
carcasses, including those of other
hippos. Wild hippos have fed on impalas,
elephants, kudus, wildebeest, zebras,
and other hippos that they either
killed themselves or were killed by other
predators. Sometimes they also scramble
with crocodiles in preying.
Zebras protect themselves
and their herd by kicking, biting, and
driving predators away. When another
stallion tries to take over their herd
or show superiority in mating, they may
act similarly aggressively. When a
zebra is threatened, other zebras defend
it by forming a circle around it to
keep the predator at back. Adults zebras
have a lethal kick. A zebra's kick is
estimated to have a power of up to 15000
newtons, or one and a half metric tons.