Sources and Citations

Erickson, G.M., Gignac, P.M., Steppan, S.J., Lappin, A.K., Vliet, K.A., Brueggen, J.D., Inouye, B.D., Kledzik, D., Webb, G.J.W. (2012). Insights into the Ecology and Evolutionary Success of Crocodilians Revealed through Bite-Force and Tooth-Pressure Experimentation. PLOS ONE, 7(3): e31781.

Primary source for all bite force figures on this site. Measures all 23 living crocodilian species using a custom bite transducer.

Sideleau, B. CrocAttack: Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database, "2015 - 2024 Attack Statistics". Originally hosted at Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia (as CrocBITE); now maintained at crocattack.org. Checked 2 October 2026.

Primary source for every attack and fatality figure on this site. This is the specific page the figures come from: it publishes attacks and fatal attacks for each country, with the species responsible named for each. It does NOT publish per-species or worldwide totals, so the species and worldwide figures on our danger ranking are our own additions of its country rows and are labelled as such. The database states that African records are largely incomplete, that reporting in Asia is generally much better than in Africa, and that records from Namibia and South Africa, while not comprehensive, are believed to cover the majority of incidents. The original crocbite.com domain is no longer active.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Alligator Bites on People in Florida". Last updated February 2026.

Primary source for Florida alligator figures: a year-by-year table of unprovoked bites split into major, minor and fatal, running from 1948 to 2025. Totals 500 unprovoked bites, 347 major, 153 minor and 32 fatal. A fatal attack in Seminole County on 28 June 2026 is not yet in this table.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Human-Alligator Incidents Fact Sheet". Issued 24 April 2023.

Source for the Florida population estimate of about 1.3 million alligators across 6.7 million acres of suitable habitat, the average of eight bites a year serious enough to need professional medical treatment, and the one in 3.1 million serious-injury risk figure.

National Geographic. Nile crocodile species profile.

Cited only to attribute the widely quoted claim that "up to 200 people may die each year in the jaws of a Nile croc", which National Geographic prefaces with "firm numbers are sketchy". This is the actual origin of the 200-a-year figure that circulates attributed to attack databases; it is a hedged ceiling from a magazine, and we do not use it as a data source.

Caldicott, D.G.E., Croser, D., Manolis, C., Webb, G., Britton, A. (2005). Crocodile attack in Australia: an analysis of its incidence and review of the pathology and management of crocodilian attacks in general. Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 16(3): 143-159.

Analysis of Australian saltwater crocodile attacks.

IUCN SSC Crocodile Specialist Group. (2023). Alligator mississippiensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

American alligator: Least Concern.

IUCN SSC Crocodile Specialist Group. (2023). Crocodylus acutus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

American crocodile: Vulnerable.

IUCN SSC Crocodile Specialist Group. (2023). Crocodylus porosus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Saltwater crocodile: Least Concern.

Isberg, S., Combrink, X., Lippai, C. & Balaguera-Reina, S.A. (2019). Crocodylus niloticus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T45433088A3010181.

Nile crocodile: Least Concern.

Lang, J.W., Chowfin, S. & Ross, J.P. (2019). Gavialis gangeticus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T8966A149227430.

Gharial: Critically Endangered.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). (2024). Alligator Management Program Annual Report. Tallahassee, FL.

Florida alligator population estimates, nuisance complaint data, attack statistics.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). (2024). Alligator Program.

Louisiana population data and harvest programme statistics.

Ross, C.A. (Ed.) (1989). Crocodiles and Alligators. Golden Press. ISBN 0-87159-104-2.

Classic reference on crocodilian biology, taxonomy, and natural history.

Webb, G.J.W. & Manolis, S.C. (1989). Crocodiles of Australia. Reed Books.

Comprehensive treatment of Australian crocodilian species.

Thorbjarnarson, J. (1992). Crocodiles: An Action Plan for Their Conservation. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Key conservation reference across all species.

Gharial Ecology Project. (2024). Gharial population monitoring, Chambal River. Madras Crocodile Bank Trust.

Annual population surveys and ecological research on the Chambal River gharial population.

Choudhury, B.C. & De, S. (2023). Gharial conservation in India: retrospective and prospective. Current Science, 125(5).

Review of gharial population recovery and current threats.

Taplin, L.E. & Grigg, G.C. (1981). Salt glands in the tongue of the estuarine crocodile Crocodylus porosus. Science, 212(4501): 1373-1377.

Key study demonstrating functional salt glands in crocodiles.

Grigg, G.C. & Gans, C. (1993). Morphology and physiology of Crocodylia. In: Fauna of Australia, Vol. 2A. Australian Government Publishing Service.

Comprehensive treatment of crocodilian physiology.