Sensitive footage when a Crocodile lets go of a pregnant deer? Find Out the Facts…

Videos of unbelievable behavioral patterns related to animals often get shared widely among social media users with much astonishment. However, sometimes, such incidents have misleading interpretations. This is our investigation related to a strange incident between a deer and a crocodile.

Social Media Posts

A viral video is being spread on social media stating the following claims.

“In this video, the crocodile decides to set free a deer after finding it pregnant. One wonders which religion do these animals follow, which prayers do they recite & which temple/mosque/church or gurudwara do visit; very simply, they follow “The Law of the Jungle, “ which we think is a barbaric & we call them “ Animals.”

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This video was viral on Facebook.

This footage was viral among WhatsApp users as well, with similar sentiments.

Explanation

Using a reverse image search and keyword search, we found the story related to this incident in the UK-based Daily Mail. According to the report, the captured animal was not a deer but an impala. Observing the animal in the video, we also found it's an impala.

So, what are the differences between the Impala and the deer?

Impala and deer are in the same order but belong to different families. Deer belongs to the Cervidae family. However, Impala belongs to the Bovidae family. Impala's skin color is reddish brown and pale towards the belly; however, deer have color ranges according to deer species. In addition, deer have perked antlers, while Impala has undivided horns. More details about their comparison can be taken from here. Archived.

Returning to the viral clip, according to the Daily Mail report, the footage was filmed on 12^th September 2017 near the banks of a river in Etosha National Park in Namibia.

The person who managed to record this rare footage says that a pack of wild dogs was first chasing down this particular Impala. To escape them, the Impala ran towards the water, where it was captured by the giant crocodile, which usually would spell doom for the Impala.

However, the videographer adds that, since the crocodile was a considerable distance out of the water, it couldn't perform the infamous death roll to tear away the Impala and mentions that to be the main reason the crocodile let go of its prey. The Daily Mail report can be read here. Archived

Although crocodiles are speedy and faster predators in the water, they are slow movers on land. Details about it can be read here. Archived. A study done in 2013, in Australia, regarding the attack rate of crocodiles on humans indicated that less than 10% had occurred on land, as reported here.

Therefore, while crocodiles are masterful in dragging drown their victims, suffocating them, and tearing them apart inside water, the same is not always accurate on the ground, and there are few occasions where even much smaller animals like deer have managed to evade the grasp of these deadly predators, under such scenarios. Here is a recent video of another deer managing to evade the attack of a crocodile.

We also contacted Dr. Ruchira Somaweera, a scientist and researcher with decades-long experience related to reptiles. From his point of view, there is no scientific truth behind the viral narration on social media.

"It's a Nile croc from Africa, the apex predator in African waters. All species of crocs in the world are opportunistic predators and would attack anything that moves. So they are quite sensitive to movements", Dr. Ruchira said.

"When Nile crocs catch large mammalian prey, they mainly kill the prey by drowning. You would commonly see this in popular documentaries where wildebeest and zebras are dragged into the water. In that video, it's clear that the croc is not having a good grasp of the Impala, and it's on land. The chances of that croc killing that Impala is relatively low unless it bleeds to death from excessive damage. Moreover, the presence of the photographer seems to clearly bother the croc. They are pretty sensitive when outside water and can be easily disturbed. We experience this a lot when studying crocs for research. ", he further explained.

"So, many factors could have let that croc let go of the prey and move back to safety, but the fact that the animal is pregnant and the croc is respecting that is not one of them. As humans, it is very common for us to interpret animal behaviors using human values and morals. Nature does not work like that. When it comes to large predators, it is brutal and is a matter of survival of the fittest.", He pointed out.

Dr. Ruchira Somaweera also commented on the cannibalism seen among these crocodile species, saying, "They are not selective in their diet – cannibalism is very common among Nile crocs, including eating babies of their own kind. In fact, cannibalism by adults is one of the main predation risks to crocs. There has been a lot of research on cognition in crocs, and we know that they care for their own babies. Still, crocs have very few mutual relationships with other creatures, which are almost all restricted to cleaning behaviors where some birds clean the mouth and skin of basking crocs."

The research paper by Dr. Ruchira Somaweera on cannibalism and other predatory characteristics of crocodiles can be read here.

However, we don't know what the crocodile strictly intended in this scenario.

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