On the left is the pic of two baby crocs from Serudong - this was about 18 km from the rivermouth, almost to the Tabung Haji oil palm plantation, way upstream from a military post, somewhere in the Serudong.
The larger baby was 18 inch, the other was 16, but as you can see, their size differ significantly, although may be they may have hatched at about the same time. You see, survival rates of baby crocs very much depend on what they do or capable of doing to survive, like if they can eat many crayfish (or if there are a lot of crayfish around to eat).
This is a close up of the head. Looking at Dr Anuar's hand, he didn't seem to squeeze the croc - and that's what you're going to do. Almost all baby crocs we caught were docile and never attempted to bite (and if they did, they cannot eat you either). Well, I lied. Some bit us but I have thrown away that scare into the Klias river a long time ago.
And then we got back to the old jetty at Kg. Wallace Bay (Feeza, you remember this one?). Behind us are parts of the mangrove forests of Tawau, the city is on the extreme right, somewhere. The two policemen escorted us with bloody M16! - I don't know what they were intended for - the crocs or the indonesians (similarly, I didn't know whether to feel secure or scared). Mr Azman, second from right is my coleague at uni, now a PhD student at IBTP doing cicadas. Then AP Dr Shahrul Anuar of USM, my junior at uni, he studied the Klias croc in 1991.You know what, Feeza? A breakfast of nasi kuning after a crocking trip will make all the difference!
Hamid.
2 comments:
I saw these photos before, its amazing! And hoping so hard to see some of the baby False gharial when sampling in Kg. Baharu later and taking photos with them. It will be a great experience.
Dr, the 2 baby croc 18 & 16 inch are the same gender? I was thinking that if they are different in gender then the larger 1 might be a male croc while the smaller is a female. Does it make sense?
Sexual dimorphism in crocodile is sometimes clear - but you must be trained to see this. Males are larger, more massive heads and jaws, females are more, sort of, feminine, the croc way. But we don't see this at early stage and that can become a problem.
Baby crocs can be positively sexed via looking at the cliteropenis that pops out once pressure is applied to the base of their tails. Some people may be offended by the term of the genetalia but that's the way it is. They are both the same structure in crocs, only larger in males.
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