1000-Pound Crocodile, "Man-Eating Dinosaur" Shot Dead in Africa by US Hunter

During a hunting trip in Africa, a US hunter shot a 15-foot, 1,000-pound crocodile dead known as a "Man-Eating Dinosaur."

When Garrett Wales of Texas and his team of trackers learned that some villagers had noticed a crocodile in an irrigation pond located nearby, they were already several days into their expedition in Zimbabwe's Savé Valley.

After several days of looking, Wales and his team discovered the sizable reptile they later referred to as a "man-eating dinosaur"-a Nile crocodile.

Nile Crocodiles

Nile crocodiles can be found in Madagascar, tropical and southern Africa, and they live in swamps, marshes, rivers, and estuaries.

While alligators and crocodiles share some characteristics, there are some significant differences between the two species of large reptiles. One difference is that crocodiles have more effective salt glands, enabling them to live in environments that gators might not be capable to withstand, which are salty marine environments.

As a result, alligators are primarily found in North and South America, whereas crocodile species can be found all over the world, including in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

According to SeaWorld, crocodiles can grow to be enormous animals, easily weighing more than 500 pounds and reaching lengths of 20 feet.

The Legend of the Crocodile

He said that Although it was said that a crocodile lived there, nobody they knew had ever actually seen it. Wales claimed that because locals used the pond to wash their clothes and collect water, the crocodile posed a threat to them.

Wales's initial encounter was fleeting. The animal was nearby the pond when he noticed it, but it slid further into the water before he got the chance to take a picture of it.

He didn't get the kill he wanted until the fifth day, right before he and his team were just about to take a lunch break. They decided to complete another lap of the pond first.

The crocodile was on their side of the bank, just five to seven yards away from them, when they came around the corner as they had anticipated seeing it possibly in the reeds.

Wales fired his rifle after aiming it. Wales claimed that nine people were required to transport the animal later. Wales stated that catching the crocodile was an experience he will always remember in a Facebook post on September 8. He later described his trophy as a man-eating dinosaur of a crocodile. He provided several images of the enormous creature, one of which shows it hanging from a ceiling fan and dwarfing two nearby onlookers.

Users opposed to hunting have expressed their opinions on his Facebook post, with one commenter calling the killing "disgusting," Newsweek reports.

Crocodiles

Large aquatic reptiles known as crocodiles, or true crocodiles, are found throughout the tropics. The size, morphology, behavior, and ecology of different species of crocodiles vary somewhat. They also share a lot of similarities in these other areas, though.

All crocodiles are semiaquatic. They tend to gather in freshwater habitats like rivers, lakes, and wetlands, though occasionally they can also be found in brackish and saltwater. They are carnivorous creatures that primarily consume vertebrates like fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Depending on the species and age, they also occasionally consume invertebrates like mollusks and crustaceans. Since they are all tropical species, crocodiles are much more sensitive to cold than alligators.