Australian wildlife rangers caught a huge male saltwater crocodile that is 4.4 meters long in a popular tourist destination. According to the wildlife rangers, the crocodile is the biggest crocodile to be caught in the Flora River Nature Park in Northern Territory in at least five years.
Moreover, they also noted that the crocodiles actively seek mates for the breeding season as the weather continues to warm up. Due to that, wildlife ranger John Burke cautions people to be 'crocwise' as they pass by NT waterways.
Biggest Saltwater Crocodile Caught in Flora River, NT
Wildlife rangers have trapped a huge crocodile at an area where tourists walk down to the river in Northern Territory on Friday. The male saltwater crocodile weighs 770 pounds (350 kilograms) and measures 4.4 meters long.
Katherine senior wildlife ranger John Burke told the reporters that the crocodile was caught in a popular tourist spot. By far, this is the biggest crocodile ever caught in Flora River just south of Katherine in the Northern Territory.
The videos and photos of the crocodile show that it has been tied down, with blindfold and blanket to cover it laid on an extended car trailer. A side-by-side photo also shows that the animal's webbed feet are more than twice the size of a human hand.
Rangers have now taken the crocodile to a nearby crocodile farm to be part of their breeding program. These farmed crocodiles are killed mainly for their meat and leather. Burke hopes that the crocodile would find its mate there and breed.
He cautioned people to be 'crocwise' when passing by the Northern Territory waterways as the cold-blooded reptiles have now become active because the weather is starting to warm up, and it is their breeding season as well. They will be out of the water to look for males, particularly the big ones, said Burke.
Mr. Burke said that so far, it is the largest crocodile caught in Flora River. But three years ago, a 4.71-meter crocodile was caught two hours north-east of Katherine River, an area closer to the sea.
Crocodiles are trapped in a cage with a pig or any meat in it, which is submerged in waterways. Their population in the Northern Territory in Australia has steadily increased after becoming a protected area in the early 1970s.
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Largest Crocodile Ever Measured and Held in Captivity
The crocodile caught in Flora River Nature Park may be the largest crocodile captured in the area. However, there is a much larger crocodile captured almost a decade ago.
The crocodile was named Lolong, after the veteran crocodile hunter who led the hunt for the said crocodile but died of a heart attack due to the hunt's stress a few days before the crocodile was finally captured.
Measuring at 20 ft 3 in (6.17 meters) and weighing about 2,370 lbs (1,075 kg), Lolong is considered the largest crocodile ever held in captivity and the largest to be measured. He is a saltwater crocodile captured in Agusan del Sur, Philippines.
However, he died 18 months after being captured in February 2013 due to congestive heart failure complications.
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