Bull shark Facts for Kids
Carcharhinus leucas · kar-kar-HY-nus LOO-kus
A sturdy shark that can swim in salt water and in fresh water.
- 🏃 speed: not yet checked
- ⚖️ 209 to 245 lb95 to 111 kg1
- 📏 7.5 to 9.3 ft2.3 to 2.8 m1 long
- 🎂 32 years32 years1
- 🍽️ fish
- Needs help (Vulnerable)
A bull shark is a sturdy gray shark. It lives in warm, shallow seas near the coast. It can also swim up rivers.
Bull sharks live in warm, shallow coastal seas. They are the only shark that can stay in fresh water for a long time, in rivers and lakes. They eat mostly fish, such as catfish and stingrays, and also crabs.
The bull shark lives in warm, shallow coastal seas, and it is the only shark that can stay in fresh water for long stretches, in rivers, lakes and the places where rivers meet the sea. It eats mostly fish, such as catfish and stingrays, and also crabs and other sea animals. In the wild, bull sharks live for many years.
How big is a bull shark?
Bull shark in numbers
| Length | 7.5 to 9.3 ft2.3 to 2.8 m1average; males and North American females |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | no checked number yet |
| Weight | 209 to 245 lb95 to 111 kg1average; adult males and females |
| Top speed | no checked number yet |
| How long it lives | 32 years32 years1average; in the wild |
| What it eats | mostly fish such as catfish and stingrays, and also crabs |
| Where it lives | warm, shallow coastal seas, and also rivers and lakes |
| What kind | Fish |
| Is it in danger? | Needs help (Vulnerable)2 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- A bull shark can swim in salt water and in fresh water.
- It is the only shark that can stay in fresh water for a long time.
- It eats mostly fish such as catfish and stingrays.
Compare the bull shark
Friends and neighbours
Great white shark
Bottlenose dolphin
West Indian manateeThree questions
Books about the bull shark, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the bull shark for free.
For teachers
Use this animal in class: its facts are on this page, and the cards print from it.
Where these numbers come from
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web: Carcharhinus leucas (bull shark), checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, Bull shark (Q190469), checked 30 October 2026.