Three amazing facts about coconut crabs:
- Coconut crab front claws have a stronger pinch than any bite force in nature, including carnivores! During one study, researchers measured the pinching force of a coconut crab at around 1,800 Newton, which is around 183 kilograms (i.e. they could easily chop your finger off!)
- Female crabs can carry a clutch of eggs of up to 250,000 eggs depending on body size
- Coconut crabs are the largest land-living crabs in the world. Their presence indicates that a forest is intact and healthy.
These insights and many more interesting facts about the coconut crab can be found in our new awareness booklet which was produced by Lisa-Marie Gierse, a volunteer from the Deutsch-Tansanische Partnerschaft e.V. (DTP) supervised by Dr. Tim Caro and Ulrike Kloiber, the Chumbe Conservation Manager.
Ms Gierse was fascinated by the largest crab on earth and conducted hands-on research activities together with Chumbe Head Ranger including: fieldwork in the Chumbe Forest Reserve (catching, measuring, weighing and labeling coconut crabs), data entry and report writing.
Find out more about coconut crabs!
Ms Gierse provided content for and co-developped our latest awareness booklet about coconut crabs (which you can download here: Crab Booklet, find in our bungalow information folders, or buy a printed copy in our island boutique).
Ms. Gierse also conducted ranger training sessions about the coconut crab on Chumbe Island and implemented an awareness talk and drawing competition in a Zanzibari school.
