InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - The 21-foot long seawater crocodile caught in the southern Philippines has been included by TIME Magazine in its list of the world’s 10 creepiest “Real Life Monsters.”
The saltwater crocodile, which has been named “Lolong”, joins the rank of some of the world’s meanest animals, among these the 45-foot long giant squid, the 50-foot long Burmese python, and the 54-foot long Oarfish.
“It’s the kind of beast Steven Spielberg might feature in a movie,” Time writer Nate Rawlings wrote about Lolong on the magazine’s website (www.time.com) on Thursday.
The capture of the crocodile in the town of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur early this week has caught the fascination of local and foreign media, who have dubbed it “the largest crocodile ever captured in the wild.”
Lolong is set to overtake the previous Guinness Book of World Records holder, a 17-foot long croc caught in Cairns, Australia.
Lolong is suspected of attacking and eating a Bunawan farmer and of killing a 12-year-old girl whose head was bitten off in 2009. There were no traces, however, of human remains in Lolong’ stomach.
Named after Ernesto “Lolong” Conate, a crocodile hunter from Palawan hired to hunt it, the captured reptile will be placed in a wildlife park that will be built in Agusan del Sur.
Conate died of a stroke days before the giant crocodile was caught near Lake Mihaba.
Crocodile experts and conservationists warned that a potentially bigger crocodile, Lolong’s female mate, might still be roaming free in the Agusan marsh.
According to the TIME article, the Philippine crocodile’s capture might be likened to the fate of Spielberg’s great white shark in the ‘80s movie classic “Jaws.”
While the residents of that town rejoiced when one of the creatures was killed, “the real culprit was still out in the water.”
“We hope the real life story has a better ending,” Rawlings said.
View the complete list here: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2092297_2092275,00.html
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