A water monster is found in the fresh water reservoirs of the Indian Sub Continent which is called as Mugger Crocodile or Marsh Crocodile. Mugger Crocodiles are larger species in the Crocodylidae family having the average length of 13-14 feet. They can obtain the maximum length of 17-18 feet in rare cases. Biologically, Mugger Crocodile is known as Crocodylus palustris and they are found in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Southern Iran.
Mugger Crocodiles are big carnivorous reptiles and their population is found basically in freshwater, including marshes, ponds, lakes, irrigation canals, and reservoirs and a very small proportion of their population also lives in the saltwater lagoons. Mugger Crocodiles are generally very slow movers on the ground but they are very agile swimmers. The body of the Mugger Crocodile has a fair protection of a thick and scaly skin and the neck is also covered by sharp scutes.
The male Mugger Crocodile has the larger body than its female and they can live for forty years. They can travel for miles in search of fresh water bodies in case of their habitat destruction. They are normally very social reptile and communicate with a wide variety of vocalizations. Mugger Crocodiles can easily live with other crocodilian species, especially the Gharial.
The Male Mugger Crocodile reaches sexual maturity at the age of ten years and normally they are more than 2.5 meters in this period. Similarly the female Mugger crocodile reaches sexual maturity when she’s about 1.7-2.0 m (5.6-6.5 ft) long, something which usually happens when she’s roughly 6 years of age. The female Mugger Crocodile deposits 25-30 eggs on average and hatches them for 60-75 days.The juveniles of the Mugger Crocodile are approximately 30 cm in length.
The larger the Mugger Crocodile will, it will feed itself with the bigger prey. A fairly large Mugger Crocodile can prey on 200+kg sambar deer and 450+ kg domestic water buffalo and compete directly with the tiger over kills. Normally, Mugger Crocodile, the water monster eats small mammals, frogs, fish , monkeys and other smaller reptiles etc. Presently, the population of the Mugger crocodile is threatened from their habitat destruction and the illegal hunting for the skin trade and alternative medicine market. Some people are also involved for stealing their eggs collection. Sometimes it is also observed that the Mugger Crocodiles are being stuck in the fishnets while fish stealing and get drowned. With the remaining population of less than 10,000 individuals, Mugger Crocodile is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.