Pictures: Biggest Crocodile Ever Caught?

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Biggest Crocodile Ever Caught?

Photograph from Reuters

Caught alive after a three-week hunt, an allegedly 21-foot-long (6.4-meter-long) saltwater crocodile—the biggest crocodile ever caught in the Philippines—is restrained on September 4, according to the Associated Press.

The  2,369-pound (1,075-kilogram) crocodile is suspected of attacking  several people and killing two. The animal, named Lolong, survived  capture and is being held in a temporary enclosure in the village of  Consuelo, near Bunawan township (map).

Federal wildlife officials are trying to confirm whether the reptile is the largest crocodile ever captured, Theresa Mundita Lim, of the  Philippines' Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, told the AP.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists a 17.97-foot-long (5.48-meter-long), Australian-caught saltwater crocodile as the largest in captivity.

Yet herpetologist Brady Barr, host of the National Geographic Channel show Dangerous Encounters, said such claims rarely check out. (The National Geographic Society  part-owns the Channel and wholly owns National Geographic News.)

"I'd  be surprised if it was truly six meters," Barr told National Geographic  News, adding that a scientist would need to verify the claim.

Alligator  biologist Allan Woodward agreed. "There's never been a crocodile longer  than approximately 18 feet [5.5 meters]," said Woodward, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "That would be an exceptional jump."

As  for whether the crocodile is the perpetrator of the attacks, it's  impossible to know unless the animal is killed and cut open, Barr said.  Officials did induce the animal to vomit, which produced no human  remains.

"It's great they didn't kill it," Barr said. "That's commendable [and] very rare."

(See "Rare Pictures: Crocodile Attacks Elephant.")

—Christine Dell'Amore

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It's THIS Big!

Photograph from AP

Edwin  Cox Elorde, mayor of Bunawan township in the Philippines, stretches his  arms over the huge saltwater crocodile on September 4.

Villagers  threw a fiesta to celebrate the capture of the croc, which a hundred  people had to pull by rope from a creek to a clearing, according to the  Associated Press.

Herpetologist Barr noted that most crocodile attacks occur because people have depleted croc habitat or prey.

In  these cases "crocodiles are just turning to the next available food  source, and sadly sometimes that happens to be human," Barr said.

Cases  of mistaken identity are also possible, when a crocodile thinks a human  is a typical prey species. There are also "rogue" animals that  purposely kill people, although that's much less common, Barr said.

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Crocodile on Display

Photograph from European Pressphoto Agency

Saltwater  crocodiles—such as the recently caught giant, pictured on September  6—are considered a species at low risk of extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

About  a thousand of the species roam the Philippines' southern swamplands,  where the new catch was found, Philippine wildlife official Glen Rebong  told the Associated Press.

Though the species isn't under immediate threat, it is protected from hunting by law, Barr emphasized.

"It saddens me to see big animal like that get captured," he added.

Philippine  Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Ramon Paje told the AP  that the crocodile was captured because it was a threat to the  community. But he added that such the presence of such reptiles is a  reminder that the country's remaining habitats need to be protected.

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Monster Catch

Photograph by Sylvia Elorde, Bunawan/AFP/Getty Images

An unidentified hunter subdues the huge saltwater crocodile on September 3, just before its capture.

Philippine  federal wildlife official Ronnie Sumiller, who led the team that  captured the behemoth, told the AP that another search was under way for  a possibly larger crocodile spotted in nearby marshes.

"There is a bigger one, and it could be the one creating problems," Sumiller told the news agency.

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A Star is Born?

Photograph from AP

People try for a glimpse of the giant saltwater crocodile in its temporary cage in Consuelo, the Philippines, in on September 6.

Bunawan  mayor Elorde told the Associated Press that he had plans to make the  captured crocodile "the biggest star" in an ecotourism park, which he  said would improve people's understanding of the notorious reptiles'  role in the environment.

Barr called that "an awesome idea."

"These  big crocs are a tremendous resource. Australia is a great example—they  have a multimillion-dollar tourism industry based around crocodiles.

"If you do it right, especially for some of these lesser-developed countries ... it's a great idea."

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Settling In

Photograph from AP

The captured saltwater crocodile swims in its enclosure on September 6.

Though saltwater crocodiles aren't rapidly disappearing, their cousin the Philippine crocodile is considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The  world's most endangered freshwater species, the Philippine crocodile  numbers only 250 in the wild, according to the Associated Press