Crocodile records

[Adam From Africa]

Since I can remember, I have read everything I could find about crocodiles. Being an African, I’m partial to the Nile Crocodile. Stories of 7 meter crocodiles abound in the literature but never has such a monster actually been verifiably measured. Neither Salty nor Nile. I was interested to read here about the methods to measure crocodile trophies. “Between the pegs” and “over the curves”, the latter being the official RW and SCI yardstick. But some commentators have pointed out that “over the curves” would inevitably produce greater lengths than “between the pegs”. Some say you can reduce “over the curves” by at least 10% to estimate the actual “ between the pegs” length. So I checked out the publication of Adam Britton about his measurements of Lolong, supposedly the largest crocodile, a Salty, ever measured verifiably. He was tasked by the Guiness Book of Records and Lolong topped out at 6,17m, the official length now recorded. But lo and behold, that is a measurement “over the curves”. Britton asserts that he also measured Lolong snout to tail in a straight line on the ground and that measurement was only 1% less at 6,09m. Somebody had posted a picture on the AR forum of a croc his father took in Lake Chamo, just shy of 20ft. That would surely be comparable to Lolong and the great Salties. Reference is made to a Nile croc shot in the Semliki River in 1953 measuring 19’6” in a straight line. Could that have been a croc even bigger than Lolong? Watching those monsters in the Mara River swallowing wildebeest like hamburgers, I would give my front teeth to have the biggest one captured and measured for length and weight. I betcha he would be crowned king of all crocs. Anyone here with more information on super large crocodiles hunted in Africa?

 

[Nyati]

On salties, I´ve read of one in Bujang Senang which measured 6,55m.

In 1903, Hans Besser reported a beast of 7.60m taken in the Mbaka River.

 

[sambarhunter]

World's largest croc replica gets fresh paint job

A replica of the world's largest recorded crocodile in Normanton in north-west Queensland has received a face lift.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Certus]

World's largest croc replica gets fresh paint job

A replica of the world's largest recorded crocodile in Normanton in north-west Queensland has received a face lift.

www.abc.net.au

I’d take that one with an entire salt lick, personally.

Edit: Lolong is also a hybrid, so shouldn’t be used for any size records (although it’s certainly not the largest recorded.)

 

[sambarhunter]

The Pawloskis were pretty famous croc hunters based in Karumba Nth Qld. Kris the wife did most of the shooting.

Unfortunately any photos attached to any of the stories are usually of a diff croc from the Roper River.
I worked/lived in Karumba 25 years ago and the crocs there were very evident.

A snippet below,it did happen but whether the true length was accurately recorded well??

If you needed any reminders that this is still very much croc' country... in Henry Park adjacent to the Shire Council Offices, you will see a life size replica of the largest crocodile ever caught. This beast, affectionately nicknamed 'Krys the Savannah King', was shot on the MacArthur Bank of the Norman River in 1957, and measured a staggering 8.63 metres! Although I am usually reluctant to convert for our non-metric friends, this equates to just under 29 feet! If you stand next to the statue, it feels more like you're standing next to some sort of ancient dinosaur, and it's a sharp reminder to be careful on and around the waterways.

Krys Pawlowski gained fame slaying giant crocodiles. She's now concentrating on preservation, writes Jordan Baker from Mareeba, Queensland.

Forget Steve Irwin and Crocodile Dundee. Australia's most legendary crocodile hunter is a petite, Polish-born woman.

Krys Pawlowski wrote her name into the world record books 45 years ago when she shot an 8.63-metre crocodile in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is believed to be the biggest crocodile ever measured.

Outback folklore remembers her as "One Shot Krys" - the north Queensland hunter and taxidermist who shot 5000 crocodiles and missed only three.

These days Krys is a 74-year-old wife and mother living quietly outside Mareeba, west of Cairns, with another celebrated hunter, her husband Ron.

Her sympathies now lie with conservation rather than killing, and if she had her time again, she would not have shot the now-famous crocodile as he lay on the banks of the Norman River

"I was really sorry I shot him, poor fellow," she said.

"He never woke up, he didn't know we were there. We couldn't move him, he was too big. He was the most beautiful animal," Krys said.

 

[Adam From Africa]

I’d take that one with an entire salt lick, personally.

Edit: Lolong is also a hybrid, so shouldn’t be used for any size records (although it’s certainly not the largest recorded.)

Certus, Lolong was a pedigree Saltwater croc captured in the wilds of the Philippines. Perhaps you’re thinking of Yai the hybrid kept in a crocodile farm in Thailand? Anyway, Lolong edged Yai by a few inches.

 

[Certus]

Certus, Lolong was a pedigree Saltwater croc captured in the wilds of the Philippines. Perhaps you’re thinking of Yai the hybrid kept in a crocodile farm in Thailand? Anyway, Lolong edged Yai by a few inches.

Im thinking of Utan, thanks for the correction

 

[4thedefense]

I too love stories of big crocodiles, I suspect the Nile may not be the lesser beast compared to the saltie, just tougher circumstances to measure and document...Here is a Google German-to-English translation from Hans Besser's book about the giant one he shot, it is very reminiscent of the 30 footer that John "Pondoro" Taylor wrote about, which he mistook for a fallen tree!: "In the spring of 1903 I stayed on the north bank of the Nyaſſa. All five rivers flowing from the Livingstone Mountains to the border of British Central Africa harbor due to the enormous abundance of fish quite far up the upper reaches, very numerous crocodiles and among them animals of such size, as I have never seen again in any other river area of German East Africa . I don't mean to say that there aren't such large crocs elsewhere. there are, only I didn't see them during eager spying. A crocodile I killed in the Mbaka River in March 1903 measured 0.93 meters at the tallest part of the body, had a waist circumference of 4.26 meters on the belly and a total length of 7.6 meters, and about a quarter of the tail was still missing, how which let the stub, which ended abruptly and thickly, close. The bone structure of the head was 1.4 meters long and 0.95 meters wide. When I saw the colossus lying - I was wading downriver in the shallows with some people to hunt herons - I approached him for a leaky big canoe. The tail still hung in the water , and the backs : shields and crests were so thick with dried mud over, pulled that I got absolutely no animal-like impression. "

In "Killers All," explorer and hunter Attilio Gatti wrote about a 35-footer killed, but ripped apart by his scaly brethren. That was in the very same region as Hans Besser's, apparently.

Since I can remember, I have read everything I could find about crocodiles. Being an African, I’m partial to the Nile Crocodile. Stories of 7 meter crocodiles abound in the literature but never has such a monster actually been verifiably measured. Neither Salty nor Nile. I was interested to read here about the methods to measure crocodile trophies. “Between the pegs” and “over the curves”, the latter being the official RW and SCI yardstick. But some commentators have pointed out that “over the curves” would inevitably produce greater lengths than “between the pegs”. Some say you can reduce “over the curves” by at least 10% to estimate the actual “ between the pegs” length. So I checked out the publication of Adam Britton about his measurements of Lolong, supposedly the largest crocodile, a Salty, ever measured verifiably. He was tasked by the Guiness Book of Records and Lolong topped out at 6,17m, the official length now recorded. But lo and behold, that is a measurement “over the curves”. Britton asserts that he also measured Lolong snout to tail in a straight line on the ground and that measurement was only 1% less at 6,09m. Somebody had posted a picture on the AR forum of a croc his father took in Lake Chamo, just shy of 20ft. That would surely be comparable to Lolong and the great Salties. Reference is made to a Nile croc shot in the Semliki River in 1953 measuring 19’6” in a straight line. Could that have been a croc even bigger than Lolong? Watching those monsters in the Mara River swallowing wildebeest like hamburgers, I would give my front teeth to have the biggest one captured and measured for length and weight. I betcha he would be crowned king of all crocs. Anyone here with more information on super large crocodiles hunted in Africa?

 

[IvW]

Take what Taylor said with a bag of salt.....

 

[colorado]

I only like big crocodiles on TV