In 2023, a rare large-scale breeding "carnival party" took place at a crocodile farm in Australia.
According to the farmer, after a helicopter flew at a low altitude, more than 3000 crocodiles on the farm began to mate at the same time.
After the plane came, all the male crocodiles suddenly stood upright and kept roaring into the sky, and as soon as the plane left, the crocodiles began to mate wildly.
It seems that the helicopter made the crocodiles suddenly excited, but it is not clear why they are so excited.
The party took place at the Gullana Crocodile Farm in central Queensland, which is close to a Repulse Bay training area in Rockhampton, meaning that these crocodiles are no strangers to airplanes.
At that time, there was a pilot who used the farm as a marker point to change the course, and flew very low to be just above the farm for the convenience of taking pictures, which brought a lot of "noise" effects, and the X Love Party also happened after that.
As soon as this news came out, foreign netizens couldn't sit still.
Most of the mainstream evaluations are "surprised", and many people follow this topic to laugh at themselves, and some netizens have brain circuits Qingqi, hoping that the farmer can publish the relevant video and watch it.
For the three parties to the event, it is also a win-win situation.
The crocodile accomplished a big thing of its own, the pilot took the picture he wanted to take, and the farmer unexpectedly got a free "pregnancy boost", and he can try this method to promote crocodile breeding in the future.
But for those biologists, they are still a headache, because it is not clear "what exactly ignited the enthusiasm of crocodiles"!
Crocodiles are known to be cold-blooded, and their courtship behavior and mating generally occur between 6-0 months.
Australia's crocodiles, on the other hand, are on an annual basisSeptember-OctoberCourtship begins, and the female after conception lays eggs between 3 months and 0 months of the next year.
As for why they mate en masse, British reptile scientist Mark O'Shea and experienced crocodile farmer John Lever offer their own opinions.
"If there is no thunder and lightning, the offspring of crocodiles will be reduced by at least half!"
Farmer John Lever believes from years of experience that the reproduction of crocodiles depends largely on the weather, in addition to the amount of rainfall, the length of the day, the temperature and, most importantly, thunder and lightning.
If there is a lack of thunderstorms in the year, the breeding behavior of crocodiles will be drastically reduced.
During the dry season, farmer John Lever tried all sorts of methods, even playing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, but it still failed to stimulate the crocodiles.
It can be seen that thunderstorms are a signal for crocodiles to reproduce.
Why do you have to mate when a thunderstorm comes? Actually, it's crocodile forImprove the survival rate of offspringway.
Don't look at the big crocodiles are very tough, but the survival rate of small crocodiles is very low, almost only 1% of crocodiles live to adulthood. Most baby crocodiles are either eaten by predators or die because of food, weather, etc.
Crocodiles choose to mate during thunderstorms, so when their babies are born, which happens to be the season for the most weather and food, they are more likely to survive.
The helicopter flew at a low altitude and made a sound that gave the crocodiles the illusion that a storm was coming, which accidentally triggered their mating activity.
"I feel like the other male crocodiles are provoking me!"
Some zoologists also said that the plane was flying at low altitude, and the male crocodiles were all standing upright and in a state of attack, which may have been mistaken for this informationSame-sex provocation。
During the breeding season, a successful male crocodile needs to go through two stages: courtship and mating.
When courting, it is inevitable to fight with the same sex, this behavior seems cruel, but it is actually conducive to the development of the crocodile population, only the most powerful crocodile can give birth to more baby crocodiles, then its genes can also be passed on more.
The victor is eligible for courtship, at which point it performs a series of "courtship rituals", such as slapping the water with its nose, blowing water out of its nose or making certain arch gestures, and some also make roaring noises and low-frequency infrasound waves that are difficult for humans to hear to attract females.
The sound produced by the low-altitude flight of the aircraft was mistaken for a soundThe roar of the male crocodile before mating, the aggressiveness of the male crocodile is provoked, and they join the courtship breeding party.
In general, scientists believe that this incident was caused by a combination of factors, and it is difficult to say which one caused it.
But this provides crocodile farmers with a new way of thinking about how crocodiles can be promoted when the environment is not suitable.
While not sure if this will work, farmer John Lever says he will consider using it in the future.