Crocodiles were worshiped by ancient Egyptians. They built temples for Sobek, the Crocodile God, in Kom Ombo (50 kilometers north of Aswan) and Edfu (on the west bank of The Nile) and in other places. However, the number of crocodiles sharply decreased in modern times; especially in the 1950’s due to overfishing, threatening crocodiles in Egypt with extinction. But with the building of the High Dam and the formation of the Nasser Lake behind the dam, the Nile crocodile gained an opportunity for it to breed and its numbers have again started to increase in the lake.

Crocodiles were worshiped by ancient Egyptians. They built temples for Sobek, the Crocodile God, in Kom Ombo (50 kilometers north of Aswan) and Edfu (on the west bank of The Nile) and in other places. However, the number of crocodiles sharply decreased in modern times; especially in the 1950’s due to overfishing, threatening crocodiles in Egypt with extinction. But with the building of the High Dam and the formation of the Nasser Lake behind the dam, the Nile crocodile gained an opportunity for it to breed and its numbers have again started to increase in the lake.

There are many tales told about the crocodiles of the Nile Nasser Lake where reality gets mixed with illusion. Some of the tales blame the crocodiles for consuming large amounts of the lake’s fish and thus impacting fish production.  Others say that these crocodiles threaten the lives of thousands of fishermen who live and fish around Nasser Lake.  

Myth versus reality

The actual situation of crocodiles in the Nasser Lake was researched by the scientific study carried out by the Nile Crocodile Management Unit of the Natural Reserves Department in the Aswan governorate. Engineer Muhammad Izzat, who is responsible for the unit, said that the Environment Ministry prepared the study this year and that it had been in contact with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN/SSC) during the conduction of the study in order to assess the situation of the crocodiles in the Nasser Lake since 2008.

He added that in the beginning of the study, five major areas were selected, and were chosen to represent all the Lake Nasser’s environments.  These five areas form 20% of the Lake’s area. The study revealed that the number of crocodiles in the lake is between 6 – 30 thousand crocodiles.  The study also revealed that these crocodiles are not responsible for the decline of fish production because they do not only feed on fish but also on dead animals and they scavenge carrion, which contributes to the clearing of waterways. Furthermore, crocodiles don’t eat particular kinds of fish but also those kinds that cause harm to the fishermen such as the catfish families. 

Izzat confirmed that these crocodiles are not tame animals but he also said that they do not pose any danger or threat to the fishermen of Lake Nasser. He added that during the last 20 years, only 3-4 tragic incidents happened because of the crocodiles.  As proof, Izaat said that until today, fishermen are still setting up their tents on the shores of Lake Nasser near the waters without the slightest fear or without putting any barriers between them and the crocodiles. However, fishermen complained that crocodiles are tearing their fishing nets to pieces and are eating the fish in the nets. This means that fishermen are not afraid of the crocodiles but they are afraid of losing their fishing nets, which are the source of their livelihood, according to Izzat.

Tragic incidents but very few in number

The Nile crocodile is five meters long.  It does not usually attack anybody and only becomes fierce when its egg nest is in danger or when defending its baby crocodiles. Researchers usually find it very difficult to hunt these crocodiles for scientific research purposes because the crocodiles try to escape from them, according to the study prepared by the Nile Crocodile Department. 

Sabri, a board member of the Fishermen Cooperative in Aswan, confirmed that “crocodiles prefer to live in bays and quiet areas away from the fishermen’s tents on the Lake Nasser’s shores.  But, it is true that many fishermen are very much afraid of bathing in Lake Nasser because they believe that if they do so crocodiles will suddenly attack them and eat them up.”

But Sabri stressed that such tragic incidents are relatively few in number. “For example, a crocodile attacked one of the fishermen in the al-Saboua area in the central region of Lake Nasser a few years ago, when he was performing the ritual washing (Wudhu) prior to the prayers. The crocodile attacked him suddenly and pulled him into the water by his leg and ate him.  Nothing remained of the body of this fisherman other than some meat pieces, which the crocodile threw away and which were found on the shore the next day. These pieces were collected by his fellow fishermen and they wrapped them and buried them.” 

Sabri explained that when the crocodiles get hungry, they eat land animals, such as dogs, donkeys or sheep. The crocodile heavily beats the animal with its tail and then it eats it.

Crocodiles have their economic value

Before banning the hunting of crocodiles, fishermen of Lake Nasser were hunting crocodiles with a big fishhook.  They were slaughtering them for their skin which they used to sell to owners of tourists shops in Aswan or to tanneries in Cairo for a price ranging between 500 – 1500 Egyptian pounds (US $73 – $218), depending on the size of the crocodile, according to Abdul-Muti Mirsal, the head of the Fishermen Workers Welfare Association of the Lake Nasser. “Some of the fishermen were hunting crocodiles and cutting off their penises, which are used by some for intensifying sexual desires for an amount of money ranging between 300 and 400 Egyptian pounds (US $44 – $58).”

After the ban issued by the Environment Ministry in 1994, the study carried out by the Nile Crocodile Unit, a copy of which was also sent to CITES International Treaty responsible for protecting threatened wild animals and plants, revealed that it is possible to invest economically in the crocodiles.  Amro Abdul-Hadi, an environmental researcher at the Nile Crocodile Unit, said that the economic value of crocodiles is huge. Hunting trips for foreign tourists could be arranged where crocodiles are hunted and then released in their same environments.  It is also possible to create farms and open them for tourists to see these crocodiles.  If the ban on hunting is lifted, then the meat and skin of the crocodiles may bring a good economic benefit to the country. The price of each 1 cm of the crocodile’s skin runs between US $3-5 depending on its quality.  There is also the possibility of exporting the meat to foreign countries whose citizens eat crocodile meat, according to Abdul-Hadi. 

Engineer Amro Abdul-Hadi said: “CITES has agreed to move the Nile crocodile from the first list that protects crocodiles and prohibits their hunting, to the second list which allows investing in crocodiles in a scientific codified way but with no export share until the completion of scientific studies needed over a larger area of Lake Nasser.” It is worthwhile mentioning that Egypt joined CITES International Treaty in 1978.

Crocodiles are innocent

Engineer Mahmoud Haseeb, the General Director of the Natural Reserves in the southern Upper Egypt, denies accusations against the Nile crocodiles, which blames these crocodiles for the decline in the fish production of the lake.  According to Haseeb, it has been scientifically proven, according to his commission’s study, that the fish production of Lake Nasser has risen in the last years from five thousand tons of fish in 2001 to about 20 thousand tons in 2012, in spite of the ban on crocodile hunting during these years because crocodiles do not only feed on fish but also on dead animals which are floating on the surface of the water or on the shores, according to Haseeb.

According to the study, which monitored the lake during the period from 2008 to 2012, with the help of foreign experts, it was revealed that the existing approximate numbers of crocodiles commensurate with the Lake Nasser’s capacities. The Natural Reserves Department is still completing the monitoring process of crocodiles in a scientific way. He added that the committee has a database on the numbers of crocodiles that have been monitored so far in 30% of the Lake Nasser’s shores, which are 7000 km long.

Demands to allow the hunting of crocodiles

Haseeb added that the Environment Ministry, represented by the Nature Reserves Department, submitted the results of this study to CITES.  This has resulted in moving the Nile crocodiles from Lake Nasser from the list of banned hunting to another list, which allows investing in these crocodiles outside their natural habitat by establishing breeding and artificial propagation farms by investors under certain environmental supervision, the marketing of these crocodiles and using them for various economic purposes.

“Today, any investor is allowed to start crocodile breeding projects outside Lake Nasser, both in Aswan and in any other province after obtaining the necessary environmental approvals similar to some other African countries, mainly South Africa, where crocodiles are of significant economic value.”

Haseeb noted that scientific studies on the Nile crocodiles are still being conducted. “We have lots of hopes and aspirations to monitor 80 – 90% of the area where crocodiles live in Lake Nasser over the next two years.  It is then that we would be able to specify the numbers of crocodiles more accurately and then we can ask the CITES to allow the hunting of crocodiles under environmental restrictions related to the quantity, size, and kind of the crocodiles in Lake Nasser.”