As seen in the pictures above and below, American crocodiles and American alligators are actually found to be very tolerant of each other in areas where they co-exist, such as southern Florida (southeastern USA) – indeed, the Florida Everglades is the only place in the world where crocs and gators live together. In fact, they do not come into conflicts in the wild, mainly due to habitat partitioning and separate distributions (the gator’s range can reach as far north as Virginia, while crocs are confined solely to Florida in the US).

The reason why American crocodiles were unable to populate all of Florida is the climate, not competition with gators – sure enough, American crocodiles are less tolerant of the cold, and they live exclusively within tropical waters.

However, one cannot deny that the two species can sometimes engage in dietary overlap that results in intense competition and brutal fights. Oftentimes, the crocs are bigger, stronger and much more aggressive than the gators – though there is only one confirmed case of a croc eating a sub-adult gator in the wild –; and sometimes, the odds can be in favor of individual gators, especially if these individuals were themselves larger and stronger.