Nature & Environment

World's largest captive crocodile celebrates 120th birthday

By T.K. Randall
June 14, 2023

Image: Nile Crocodile (illustrative)
Credit: Leigh Bedford / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) The supercentenarian originally came to the attention of wildlife researchers when the owner of a farm southwest of Darwin, Australia complained that something had been making off with his livestock.

At the time, Cassius was the largest crocodile ever captured alive in the country.

"He was 16 feet, 10 inches with at least another 6 inches of tail missing and a bit of a snout missing," said researcher Grahame Webb who was there at the time.

"He was a big old gnarly crocodile then. Crocs of that size are not normal."Rather than putting him down, the researchers took Cassius to the Marineland Crocodile Park on Green Island where he has remained a popular visitor attraction ever since.

While it is difficult to know exactly how old he is, the best estimate suggests that he is now at least 120 years old, making him a valuable asset for reptile researchers.

Incredibly, he is also still growing which is quite unusual for a crocodile of this size and age.

Here's hoping he will be around for many more years to come.


Source: Live Science

Tags: Crocodile