According to Daily Mail on August 28, a crocodile was captured by a group of hunters at the Yazoo River in Mississippi on August 26 in an effort to reduce the number of wild crocodiles in the state. Residents are permitted to hunt crocodiles during a specific period each year.
The crocodile measures 14 feet 3 inches (approximately 4.3 meters) in length and weighs 802.5 pounds (364 kg). This is a record size, as the previous largest crocodile captured was only 14 feet long and weighed 766.5 pounds.
The hunting group with their “trophy”. (SCREENSHOT FROM DAILY MAIL).
The belly of the newly captured crocodile measures 66 inches (167 cm) in circumference, while its tail measures 46.6 inches (118 cm), which are also record sizes, according to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.
After a photo of the crocodile was posted on Facebook, many users expressed astonishment at its size. According to Daily Mail, one female user called it a “nightmare”, while another described it as a “monster.”
A third user congratulated the hunters and expressed excitement: “Congratulations on capturing a real dinosaur! It must be amazing.”
The hunting group, consisting of Tanner White, Don Woods, Will Thomas, and Joey Clark, reported spending 7 hours struggling and feeling “mentally drained” before finally catching the crocodile. Don Woods mentioned that he had hooked the crocodile 8-9 times, but it kept escaping.
“It would swim down, stay still, and then take off. It kept slipping under logs. It knew what it was doing. The crazy thing is it would remain in one spot,” Woods said.
The alligator hunting season this year in Mississippi runs from August 25 to September 4. The state has regulations for crocodile hunting since 2005 to manage and conserve the crocodile population.
