Before the construction of the High Dam in Egypt in 1970, crocodiles appeared very infrequently in Egyptian canals, but this sighting disappeared completely, as the dam prevented them from moving to the northern regions of the Nile River, and their presence became limited to Lake Nasser. However, in recent months, there have been numerous reports of crocodiles being spotted in drains, which has raised questions about their origin and how they got there.
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Last September, residents of villages in the Belbeis district of Sharqia Governorate reported seeing crocodiles in the waterways. In June, specialized teams from the Ministry of Local Development and Environment successfully captured a Nile crocodile in the drain of Al-Hasafa village in Qalyubia. The explanation favored by the Ministry in its official statements was that these crocodiles may have been thrown into the drains after being bought as young, and their size had grown to the point where they posed a danger to their owners, who then decided to get rid of them.
Despite the validity of this explanation, in light of the monitoring of the illegal sale of baby crocodiles in popular markets, such as the Friday market in the Sayeda Aisha area of Cairo, known for the animal trade, as well as their being offered for sale through pages on social media, it still needed more evidence to prove its connection to the appearance of crocodiles in Egyptian drains.
The new evidence came in a statement issued by the Environmental Affairs Agency on Thursday, October 29, in which it announced the arrest of a passenger on a train heading from Aswan to Alexandria Governorate who was in possession of 30 small crocodiles that he had placed in a large “blue jerrycan”, which was placed inside a bag, and their lengths ranged between 20 and 25 centimeters.
With the construction of the High Dam, the map of its presence in Egypt changed, as the study indicated that the dam's lake (Lake Nasser) provided suitable habitats for crocodiles, so they returned to reproduce in remarkable numbers in the region. On the other hand, the dam separated Lake Nasser from the course of the Nile heading north, so it limited the movement of crocodiles between the two bodies of water, so the lake became their main natural habitat in Egypt.
With the Nile crocodiles becoming established in the lake, some fishermen view them as a nuisance because they attack fish in fishing areas and damage nets. Therefore, some of them used to hunt them to get rid of their harm. However, with the decline in tourism in the nineties, some owners of bazaars and Nubian houses began to keep baby crocodiles and display them to visitors to attract tourists.
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