3 Crocs and Gators

CHAPTER 1 Alligators and Crocodiles: True or False? THERE ARE A LOT OF STORIES ABOUT THESE ANIMALS. WHICH ARE TRUE? 1. Crocodiles cry. People often say that crocodiles (or crocs) cry. Is that right? 2. Alligators live under the streets of New York. There is a story that there are a lot of very big alligators (or gators) in the sewers under the streets of New York. True? 3. Alligators are only fast in the water. Many people think that alligators are slow when they aren't swimming. Are they? 4. You can easily stop a crocodile from opening its jaws. Can a person do that? 1. True. Crocodiles cry, but not because they're unhappy. Water comes from their eyes when they eat! 2. False. Gators need the sun. It's too dark in sewers. And too cold in the winter. 3. False. Alligators can run at 17 kilometers an hour! But only for a short time. 4. True. A crocodile's jaws are very strong when it closes them but not when it opens them. So, it cannot open its mouth if you put your hands around its jaws. But you have to be very careful! Crocs are dangerous!

CHAPTER 2 All About Crocodiles HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT CROCODILES? Crocodilians (crocodiles and alligators) are reptiles. Reptiles are animals that come from eggs, like birds. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals they need the sun to stay warm. Because they don't use food to make their body warm, they don't need to eat much. It's easy to see if a crocodilian is an alligator or a crocodile. Their heads aren't the same. The alligator's head looks like a U from above. The crocodile's head is longer and thinner and looks like a V. The first crocodiles lived more than 20 million years ago. Today, they live all around the world: in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. Some live in rivers and others live in the sea. Crocodiles can swim fast: 32 kilometers an hour! And they can stay underwater for more than an hour! There are different species of crocodile. Some grow very big and some are smaller. The smallest adults are under two meters long. But the biggest croc of all time was 6.2 meters!

Today, some species of crocodile are in danger of dying out. This is because people want their skin and meat. Restaurants pay a lot of money for crocodile meat, and their skin makes very good, expensive bags and shoes. People called poachers hunt crocodiles to sell. But the police are watching. All the countries in the world say that you mustn't hunt one species: the Siamese crocodile. In 2012, police in China caught poachers with 3,600 Siamese crocodiles! They think that restaurants in Guangdong wanted to buy the crocodiles for their meat. The police took the crocs back to the wild. Crocodiles don't like other animals to come near them. In a zoo in Australia, a crocodile called Elvis thought a new lawnmower was another animal. The lawnmower made a lot of noise when the men at the zoo used it. Elvis jumped on it and carried it into the water! He stayed with it for more than an hour. The men couldn't get it back. Later, when the men got the lawnmower, they found two of Elvis's teeth in it. Lawnmowers aren't good to eat! The zoo had to buy a new lawnmower.

CHAPTER 3 See You Later, Alligator WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE, THEY SOMETIMES SAY "SEE YOU LATER, ALLIGATOR." BUT WHAT IS AN ALLIGATOR? Crocodiles and alligators became different families of animals about 37 million years ago. Crocodiles live in many countries, but we usually only find alligators in the United States and China. We know that crocodiles and alligators have different heads. But their color is different, too. Crocodiles are usually gray-green. Alligators are usually dark brown or black. Big adult alligators are about four meters long. People think the biggest alligator grew to 5.85 meters! It lived in Louisiana, USA. American alligators eat a lot of fish. But they also eat small animals, other reptiles— and other alligators! They need good teeth. Alligators grow new teeth all the time. One alligator can have 3,000 teeth in its life! Male alligators "dance" to find females and have babies. At night, a lot of alligators meet and "dance" together. The females have 20—50 eggs at one time. But not all of these eggs become adult alligators.

In the wild, alligators can live 30—50 years. But they can live for 70 years in zoos because they have good food and vets. Belgrade Zoo in Serbia has a 76-year-old gator called Mujo. He's maybe the oldest in the world. In the United States, there are a lot of alligator farms. People go to these farms to buy meat and skin. Like crocodile skin, alligator skin makes good bags and shoes. People also pay to see the alligators in these farms. They're interesting animals. Alligators aren't good pets. They never learn to love people like cats or dogs do. And adult gators can be very dangerous. In many countries you can't have a pet alligator at home. In Missouri, USA, different people bought 50 baby alligators from a man called Ken Henderson in 2011. They were very small. But then they grew! Police had to find these "pets" and take them. One woman had two gators in her backyard. Small children lived near her. It wasn't safe!

CHAPTER 4 People, Crocs, and Gators CAN WE LIVE WITH CROCS AND GATORS? AND CAN THEY LIVE WITH US? Are people bad for crocodilians? Yes and no. We build houses and factories in the places where they live. Pollution from our cars and factories is bad for crocodilians. We eat their meat and make bags with their skin. There were a lot more crocs and gators in the world 100—200 years ago. Today, there aren't any crocodilians in a lot of places because of people and the things that we do. There's another problem: the weather around the world is getting warmer. So, there's more rain in some places. And floods. Crocodilians like water, but too much water is bad for their eggs. What's the answer? In many countries, people make reserves or national parks. A reserve is a safe place for animals to live in the wild. There are no houses or factories on reserves. They're clean and there are workers there to help the animals. People can't catch or eat the animals on reserves. More baby crocodilians can live to become adults.