Monster Crocodile The Size Of A Car Caught In River Near Popular Tourist Spot

Wildlife rangers in Australia have captured a giant crocodile the size of a car at a popular tourist spot.

The male saltwater crocodile, which measures 4.4 metres long and weighs 350 kilograms, was trapped in the Flora River Nature Park in the Northern Territory last Friday, August 28.

Local rangers say the croc is the largest to have been caught in the river in at least five years and the biggest one trapped in the territory this year, although another of the reptiles was captured in the same week in the Katherine River measuring 3.3 metres.

Katherine senior wildlife ranger John Burke said the reptile was caught in a spot that visitors frequently walk by, telling ABC Katherine, ‘The tourists walk down to the river in the area where he was.’

Burke stressed the importance of being ‘crocwise’ around water – ‘with the weather warming up, the crocodiles are becoming active’ – adding that the ‘big males’ are currently out looking for mates in shallow waters.

This is especially important considering such large crocs are being discovered, with the wildlife ranger adding, ‘I certainly wouldn’t want to run across him when I’m out fishing. You’ve certainly got to respect him for what he is, and he’s in good condition, too.’

However, this isn’t a regular occurrence, with Burke saying that while they do typically find ‘big’ ones every couple of years, most of the time the average length for the crocodiles they catch near the Katherine River is 3.6 metres – almost an entire metre shorter than the monster one captured last week.

Photos of the crocodile show the reptile tied down, blindfolded and blanketed on a large car trailer, with one particular picture putting into perspective just how large the animal is as a human hand is placed right next to its webbed feet – which are over twice the size of the hand.

The crocodile has since been taken to a crocodile farm and will be used as breeding stock, according to Mr Burke, who added, ‘Hopefully, it will be a little croc resort there and he’ll have a new girlfriend.’

The numbers of crocodiles has been increasing across the Northern Territory since federal law made them a protected species in the early 1970s, with wildlife rangers having to remove 23 of the reptiles from the Katherine River management zone three years ago.

However, because the region has been experiencing well-below average rainfall recently, the number of removals has fallen to just five a year in the past couple of years with the lack of rain affecting the movement of crocodiles.

Instead of moving around to different rivers as they usually would, crocs are now just staying in the same water holes making the discovery of such a monster crocodile even more rare.

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