Online Reporter
Daimon Phiri
EVERY fisherman on Lake Kariba has heard it.
Every villager along the Save River swears by it: “When a crocodile knows it is about to die; it crawls out of the water.”
The elders say it’s to spare the pod the stench of death. The young say it’s because the spirit won’t cross if the body dies submerged.
But is it true?
This publication went to the riverbanks, laboratories and rangers to separate fact from folklore.
The myth: Dignity in death
The belief is widespread across Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique.
Kariba gill-netters insist that old crocodiles, fat with years and scars, will drag themselves onto a sandbank in their final hours.
“You never find a dead crocodile floating,” says Edson Muleya, a fisherman at Mlibizi for 31 years.
“They walk out. They die looking at the sun. It’s respect.”
In Tonga tradition, water is life and also the path to the ancestors. To die in it without purpose is to disrespect the water.
So, the crocodile chooses land.
The science: What actually happens?
In an interview recently, Dr Peter Makumbe, a senior herpetologist with ZimParks, who has necropsied more than 200 Nile crocodiles, says: “Crocodiles don’t have a ‘death sense’ that tells them to leave water.
“But sick, old or injured crocodiles do change behaviour. And that behaviour can look like they’re ‘going out to die’.”
Why do you see them on land when they’re dying?
One reason could be that thermoregulation fails, since crocodiles are ectothermic. A healthy crocodile controls body temperature by moving between sun and water, while a dying one loses that ability. It may beach itself and stay there, too weak to return.
Thus, it dies of exposure, not intent. Respiratory distress is common as pneumonia, septicaemia, or bullet wounds fill lungs with fluid. As a result, the animal comes ashore because breathing is easier with the head out of water.
Locals then find it dead on the bank.
Starvation is also another challenge, because old crocodiles lose teeth and cannot hunt. They bask longer, hoping for easy prey. Eventually, they expire on the sand.
Social exclusion plays a role too. Weak crocodiles are attacked by healthier pod members. Hence, to avoid being drowned or torn apart, they isolate on land.
“So yes,” Dr Makumbe says, “you do find dead crocodiles outside water. But they didn’t walk out to die. They walked out because they were dying.”
The Zambezi evidence
Kevin Higgins, head ranger at Matusadona National Park, has recorded crocodile mortality for 15 years.
“We’ve found 60 percent of natural deaths on land — sandbanks, reed islands, under trees. But 40 percent are in water,” he says.
“During the 2016 drought, Lake Kariba dropped. We found dozens of emaciated crocs dead in mud, half-in, half-out. They were trying to reach deeper water and failed.”
Crocodile farms tell a similar story. Padenga Holdings, which processes 40 000 crocodiles a year, reveals that natural deaths in captivity occur 70 percent on land and 30 percent in ponds.
“When they’re sick, they don’t swim,” says Padenga veterinary surgeon, Dr Lisa Bird. “They haul out. If they die overnight, they’re on the concrete.”
So why the myth?
Anthropologist Professor Mickias Musiyiwa of the University of Zimbabwe says the myth serves a purpose.
“People need order. A crocodile dying in the river fouls the water, and spreads disease.
“If the culture says ‘crocodiles don’t die in water’, then finding one in water means something went wrong, a bad omen, witchcraft. It compels the village to act: clean the water, consult a spirit medium.”
The myth also protects fishermen. If you believe dead crocs are on land, you don’t fear every log in the river.
The verdict
Do crocodiles crawl out to die?
Sometimes. But not because they know. They do it because illness, injury or age breaks the systems that keep them in water.
Do all crocodiles die on land?
No. ZimParks has pulled bloated carcasses from the Zambezi River, Lake Mutirikwi and Lake Chivero. Hippos eat them, barbel strip them and most disappear before one ever sees them.
Remember, if you see a lone, thin crocodile basking for days in one spot, it’s likely sick. Immediately call ZimParks. Don’t approach. And don’t assume it’s paying last respects. It’s just a reptile, losing a fight with biology.
As Dr Makumbe puts it: “A crocodile doesn’t plan its death. It plans its next meal. When it stops doing that, the river decides the rest.”
Crocodile safety box
Never assume a still crocodile is dead. They can hold their breath for two hours.
Report stranded or sick crocodiles to ZimParks on 0242-707624/8.
Remember, lake edges at dawn or dusk are peak risk. That’s when weak crocodiles haul out and healthy ones hunt.
Sidumisile Mabena