Monday, September 12, 2011

  Largest crocodile captured: Lolong The Crocodile sets world record (Video)

Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, Philippines—A 21-foot (6.4m) long crocodile weighing one tonne (1,075 kg), suspected of attacking several people has been caught in the Philippines - setting the new world record for the Largest crocodile captured, according to World Record Academy (www.worldrecordacademy.com).

  Photo:Mayor Cox Elorde of Bunawan township, Agusan del Sur Province, measuring the World's Largst Crocodile Captured. Photo: AP ( enlarge photo )

  The Guinness world record for the Largest crocodile in captivity was set by Cassius , an Australian saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), at 5.48 m (17 ft 11.75 in).

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the First plane crash caused by a crocodile: the crash of a Filair internal flight in DR Congo, which killed 20 passengers and crew, was caused by a crocodile smuggled on-board by a passenger. The Czech-made Let 410 was travelling from Kinshasa to Bandundu on 25 August 2010 when the escaped crocodile caused panicking passengers to rush the cockpit, unbalancing the plane. It crashed into a house close to its final destination. The crocodile was among the only two passengers to survive the crash.

  Local residents had been fearful of crocodile attacks since a fisherman and young girl had gone missing over the past year.

  It took three weeks to hunt down the giant crocodile and nearly 100 people to take it out of the water.

  It twice broke from restraining ropes before it was properly secured and it became extremely "aggressive" several times.

  The crocodile was named "Lolong," after one of its captors Ernesto "Lolong" Conate, a Palawan-based crocodile hunter who was part of the team that helped captured the gigantic crocodile but died from heart attack at the course of their mission.

  The World's Largest Crocodile Captured, named Lolong after a wildlife expert who died of a stroke during the two-week hunt for the buffalo-killer, will live in a cage to be built in Barangay Consuelo in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur.

  Local officials who will care for Lolong will be aided by a team from the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB).

  He's currently living in temporary dwellings in the village of Consuelo, where the nature park is temporarily closed to help Lolong adjust to his new environment.

  The Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) will be coming up with a set of rules and regulations for the proposed public viewing of the biggest crocodile in captivity, noting that the gigantic animal should also be treated with respect.

   "If there would be a lot of people who would go and view the crocodile, then we should send them a strong message that the crocodile should also be treated with respect," PAWB Director Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim said.

  "We have to treat them with respect. These are very ancient animals that are important to the ecosystem," she added.