Small Lizard

[El Presidente]

THAT'S NOT A CROC -- THIS IS A CROC: See the biggest beast caught in Australia's crocodile-infested Katherine River in 20 years

DANIELLA BRANDY

JUL 10, 2018, 5:50 PM

Photo: Roxanne Fitzgerald / The Katherine Times / Screengrab / Twitter

 

 

• A live 4.7 metre-long saltwater crocodile has been captured by rangers in Australia’s Northern Territory.
• First reported to authorities eight years ago, it weighs 500-600kg and is thought to be more than 60 years old.
• It’s the biggest croc removed from the Katherine River in almost 20 years, and has been taken to a farm, far away from the general population.

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A giant saltwater crocodile living near a town in Australia’s Northern Territory that was first reported to authorities eight years ago has been captured.

The 4.7m-long male beast was trapped near Florina, a town on the crocodile-infested Katherine River about four hours’ drive south of Darwin.

A spokesperson for the NT Parks and Wildlife service told Business Insider the animal weighed between 500 and 600kg. This makes it the biggest crocodile ever removed from the Katherine River by the Wildlife Operations Unit.

Saltwater crocodiles are known to aggressively attack and kill people and their presence in built-up areas is a constant risk in the Darwin region.

At 4.7m, the croc caught today is the size of a Nissan X-Trail and among the biggest crocodiles ever captured in the Northern Territory. The record is held by a 4.95m monster captured in 1999.

The crocodile was caught in a trap, and NT Parks and Wildlife rangers sedated it before loading it on to a trailer and taking it to a farm.

 

It’s believed to be more than 60 years old.

Authorities first became aware of the enormous crocodile in 2010 when members of the public said they saw a dark tail near a local boat ramp.

Deep and murky waterways in the area — the type of waters that make the Northern Territory so dangerous for swimmers — have helped it remain hidden. The photos below show just how big the animal is.

Rangers posed with a boat and the crocodile after it was sedated

Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife/Facebook

It was loaded onto a trailer with its jaws tied, so it could be safely transported to a crocodile farm

Supplied

Here it is photographed after it was first caught in a trap, eight years after it was first reported as a menace in the local town

Supplied

[Islandboy]

My first thought: there must be a ton of croc poop in those waters.

[TNT009]

Wonder how many people it devoured!

[GrouchoMarx]

Looks like my ex...

[Islandboy]

3 minutes ago, GrouchoMarx said:

Looks like my ex...

So....you two were into bondage, eh?

[Fuzz AI]

2 hours ago, El Presidente said:

A spokesperson for the NT Parks and Wildlife service told Business Insider the animal weighed between 500 and 600kg. This makes it the biggest crocodile ever removed from the Katherine River by the Wildlife Operations Unit.

"Removed" being the operative word here. Just imagine all the other larger crocs not removed from the Katherine River!

[Ken Gargett]

the old man spent a stint on the liquor licensing board (always thought that strange for someone who didn't drink) and they had to travel around the state at times and he loved time in the aboriginal reserves in the day (remember him saying how the elders would try and get them to ban alcohol, which they couldn't, because of its effect on the younger generations who had no jobs and too much time). he was at one, and we are going back probably 40 years ago, which had a massive croc in an enclosure. he was talking to the senior elder who didn't know his age but thought he (the elder) must be 70-80. and this was the croc that had taken his grandfather when he was a little kid - so at least 60-70 years previously. apparently, it was fully grown then. so it could easily have been 120 to 180 years old. 

rob, next time you are over, remind me and if we can set up the scan, i will post a photo from a brilliant book called 'fangs of the sea'. written in the 1930/40s by a guy who spent his life shark fishing on the barrier reef. so many amazing stories as it was an utterly undeveloped place back then. but he spent time helping on a northern cattle property and a huge croc was taking cattle. the wife of the owner shot it and there is a pic of her sitting on its head. caption says 16 feet long, so a bit over five meters. unless, going on scale, the woman was three foot tall, it has to be well over 20 feet. 

[ayepatz]

Dear Lord. Jurassic Park is actually real.

[luv2fly]

Reminds me of a movie......."Lake Placid" I think it was.

[Shunamaji]

That's a huge croc

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[MIKA27]

2 hours ago, GrouchoMarx said:

Looks like my ex...

Were we married to the same woman?  

[gweilgi]

2 hours ago, GrouchoMarx said:

Looks like my ex...

That's not the ex.

That's the ex's divorce lawyer.

[PapaDisco]

Another testament to the power and utility of Duck Tape!  

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, PapaDisco said:

Another testament to the power and utility of Duck Tape!  

it is an interesting point - fully agree. but my understanding is that a saltie has the most powerful bite in the animal kingdom, but much, much less power in opening its jaws. so much so that a human has no trouble holding the jaws shut (no chance of keeping them open though). not that i would want to test it on that beast and i suspect that hanging on would prove more of a problem. 

but it does mean duct tape can easily hold the jaws shut. be an interesting test to see if they could work out some way of seeing if it could keep the jaws open. 

[anacostiakat]

Prehistoric!  That's a lot of shoes and luggage!