A farm worker kneels beside three eggs in sand

The Farm · Chapter 01

It begins beneath the sand.

A nesting place, an egg, then the exacting work of incubation. The first part of the story is easy to miss if you look only at the finished skin.

Follow the first stages

The beginning, close up

From the nest to first life.

At the nest, inside with the eggs, then the smallest crocodile of all. These photographs bring the first chapter into view.

Person in blue seated beside a box of eggs and a dug hole in sand
01 / OUTSIDEA box of eggs beside a dug hole in the sand.
Eggs in two open white boxes on a tiled floor while a person handles one egg
02 / INSIDEEggs in open boxes on a tiled floor; a person holds one egg.
Small crocodile and a broken eggshell resting in a person's hands
03 / HATCHLINGA small crocodile and its broken shell in someone's hands.

From the nest onward

From nest to hothouse.

Each stage asks something different of the people caring for a new life. Follow the thread from nest to hothouse.

Four moments in the first chapter.

  1. 01 / NEST

    Give a nest its space.

    Breeding females need room around a nest. The team added poles between nesting areas so each animal has more separation during this vulnerable time.

    Farm worker beside three eggs in sand
    Three eggs in sand beside a farm worker.
  2. 02 / COLLECTION

    A careful move.

    Once collected, eggs move from the sand toward a more controlled setting. The hands in this work must treat each one with care.

    Farm worker beside a nest hole with collected eggs in a box
    Eggs in a box beside the opened nest.
  3. 03 / INCUBATION

    Conditions need attention.

    Incubation is quieter work: temperature, moisture and hygiene all need attention as the eggs develop.

    Eggs in two open boxes being handled indoors
    Eggs being handled indoors.
  4. 04 / HOTHOUSE

    The first days are delicate.

    Hatchlings need warmth, shelter and watchful care. Their world will widen from here, but its first days demand close attention.

    Young crocodile resting on a smooth floor
    A young crocodile resting on a smooth floor.
Wooded water landscape photographed in the farm setting
Wooded water in the farm setting.

What comes next

A larger world.

The hothouse is only the beginning. Soon the questions change: where to shelter, how to reach feed, when to move into wider water. Follow those choices into the next chapter.

Return to The Farm

Next · Chapter 02

The first stage is only the beginning.

From its first days onward, a crocodile keeps changing. See how the farm changes with it.

Follow the life cycle