Wildlife authorities in the Philippines say they have captured a 21-foot-long, 2,370-pound saltwater crocodile, thought to be the largest creature of its kind now in captivity.
The croc was captured in Agusan del Sur marsh on the southern Philippine island of Mindinao, according to a report on GMA News. Hunters had been trying to capture it for 21 days, the report said. It was finally captured on Saturday by a team of about 30 men who used meat to bait it and an eight millimeter metal cable to snare it, according to an Agence-France Presse report on ABS.CBN News.
Edwin Cox Elorde, mayor of the remote town of Bunawan near where the croc was caught, said the reptile will become the star of a nature park there, according to the AFP report.
The previous largest crocodile in captivity is an 18-footer in Australia, according to Guinness World Records.
Crocodiles are suspected in the deaths of a local fisherman earlier this year and a girl a few years ago, according to the news reports, but authorities could not say whether the monster caught Saturday was responsible.
Cox Elorde told Inquirer news in the Philippines that there could be a thousand more large crocodiles in the marsh, but he denied earlier reports that locals would try to catch another.
He also said the croc captured Saturday has been named Lolong, after local hunter Ernesto âLolongâ Conate, who died of a stroke while helping plan the capture of the reptile.
It's nothing compared to the big crocs in congress, LOL
An Aligator will only breed in it's own breeding hole, or "pool". If that pool has been replaced with with a man-made structure, the male Aligator simply stops breeding. The same can be said for American males whose natural breeding pool (one's own bed with one's own wife) has been replaced with the beds of other mens wives, chronic masturbation, and the bungholes f other men and boys. But rather than not breeding anymore, once their natural drive to propagate has been replaced, they take pills to get it up, forstalling the inevitable: nature ridding itself of this kind of person. God will not save this from occuring, it is natures way. Proof? God does not save us from the weather nor EQ'S.
Really? A story about a large crocodile is a chance to preach about what you perceive to be morally and spiritually correct? I actually do feel sorry for you and your very narrow view of the world.
What the hell is wrong with you whiny animal lovers? It's a dangerous animal ffs!
If you hate humans so much, why don't you kill yourself and start being the cure.
In most cases where man and animal fail to coexist it is because man has encroached into the animal's habitat. Man does this to his brother too. Just ask native American Indians, Australian Aborigines, Maori, Inca and Aztec descendants, etc. Ever wondered where Star Trek got the inspiration for the Borg?
all i can say is: well written! i have to combat these treehugging bleeding heart liberals all day. enough is enough!
HUGEEEE COCODRILE, OMG...imagine be swimming in the lake and this "little" reptile comes straight to you..
Wow..It looks like the crocodile named "Tick Tock" from peter pan movie...thats pretty amazing
Is it standard journalistic practice to use the word "monster" seriously in a news article? As in "but authorities could not say whether the monster caught Saturday was responsible."
They're just using "monster" in reference to comparative size. Have another cup of coffee and chill about unimportant things.
Hi Jae Won,
Given the way the word "monster" is commonly used in this video game and horror film obsessed world, I can see where you would question its use here, but I ckecked the Merriam-Webster online dictionary and found a couple of fairly sober meanings. Maybe the writer was referring to the animal as "unusually large for its kind" or even "of strange or terrifying shape" (and it would be terrifying to see that shape in the water next to me!).
Untrue. The United States has the American crocodile in southern Florida.
"Crocodile" 23 April 2008. HowStuffWorks.com. http://animals.howstuffworks.com/reptiles/crocodile-info.htm
I saw a small one swimming in the ocean off Hollywood beach in the late seventies..But it wasn't 20ft long! lol
How cool would it be to have Bachmann and Palin give a speech at this park, say right at the waters edge!
Did that lady anchor on the right jut say – "VIETNAMESE villagers in the PHILIPPINES?" huh?
No. I played it back several times. She stumbled on her words and said "thee a...these villagers". But it does kind of sound it. đ
Tis a shame to put such a rare animal into captivity.
I would love to see him rampage like those elephants that beat up their trainer and break loose.
How many people did it eat? children, pets??? Kill that thing... Crocos are not pets... they are like voltures... no one misses these beast... catch them and kill them...
Vultures eat dead animal carcasses, crocs are predators. And they're amazing animals, just because you don't like them doesn't mean they should be killed.
And for the record, scavengers are necessary parts of the food chain.
I think I would lose it if this thing swam up next to my boat..
How old is this crocodile? This is what is wrong with humans we are encroaching on the habitat of animals and giving them no place to go. People may think my view on this is wrong because it states this croc may be responsible for the death of a fishermen but there was no actual proof only peoples beliefs. I say put people on display in a cage and see how they like it. Too bad the croc did not eat all those damn villagers.
where do you live? how many species were displaced, killed or eradicated so that you can live there?
News should be about that news, without exaggeration of its content. In todayâs CNN.com front page under Just In, there was an article about the capture of 21- foot crocodile. The body of the story was brief and that is fine, but the headline â21-foot monster crocodile caughtâ, that is no more than tabloid yellow journalisms in my opinion. To call that poor creature a monster is monster error on your part. By definition the word monster sometimes is used to describe something larger than typical, but most people will use it to make emphasis on something bad, ugly, to be avoid or destroy. There is already a lot of stupidity in this world. Lets not make it worst by leveling something that happens in nature as a monster. This is just an animal trying to survive in nature. All that I can see is people thinking how many shoes, bags and belts they get out of this poor creature. Please make a monumental afford to report the news, but do not patronize the stigma.