Crocodiles ‘escort’ dog to safety in India, stunning scientists

Researchers published images of the event in the August edition of the Journal of Threatened Taxa. They were studying the behaviour of mugger crocodiles in the Savitri River in India’s Maharashtra state.

“These crocodiles were actually touching the dog with their snout” the researchers reported in the study, writing that the crocodiles “seemingly nudged and escorted [the dog] to safety.”

The stray dog eventually escaped the pack of dogs who were chasing it.

While it may be surprising that the reptiles didn’t jump at the opportunity for a seemingly easy meal, Chris Murray, a biologist with Southeastern Louisiana University, said there were many reasons the crocodiles may have let the dog pass.

They may have been full or felt too exposed to ambush the prey. Or they might have had negative experiences trying to eat dogs in the past, he said.

A man in Australia shooed away a crocodile to fish. Then 2 of them ate him

“You see these cost-benefit analyses occur in nature all the time when it comes to the ecology of feeding,” Murray said.

He doesn’t think the animals were displaying empathy, as the researchers suggest.

But he does agree with the paper’s authors that humans often underestimate crocodiles’ cognition.

Murray said he knows of instances of crocodiles using sticks to lure birds to land on them and engaging in communal feeding, helping other members of a group get food. He’s also seen crocodiles seem to learn from past experiences.

“I think some of those things are predominantly anecdotal, obviously, and I have some of those anecdotes for myself,” Murray said. “So I think that their cognitive ability — of assessing what’s around and their memory — is far better than I think we give them credit for.”

“They’re not just mean, lumbering reptiles,” he added. But they’re likely not taking pity on dogs in distress, either.