Evolution
Meet Gustave, the Killer Croc of Burundi
The infamous male Nile crocodile living in Burundi, is over 20 feet
long, weighs 2,000 pounds, and stands accused of devouring hundreds of
people with one estimation claiming that he killed over 300 humans in
the past 20 years.
Gustave is around 60-70 years old, and was
last reportedly sighted in February 2008. He is surely not the largest
crocodile as a
crocodile in India is
currently the largest known croc at 23 feet, and holds the Guiness
record. But there is none like Gustave.
Apart from being
unusually large among the Nile crocs, Gustave can also be easily
identified by a few distinct bullet scars that cover his body: one on
his head and three on his right side.
Gustave was named by
Patrice Faye, a French resident of Burundi and self-taught naturalist
who has been pursuing the crocodile since 1998. Faye and a documentary
team attempted to capture Gustave in 2002 using an enormous trap. First
they tried using live chicken as bait, but later decided to use a live
goat instead. One stormy night, the camera installed in the cage to film
Gustave's capture went out due to the weather conditions. The next day,
the cage was found destroyed and partially submerged in the water and
we have no evidence over what happened but we can guess.
According to a Mr. Faye, "He is enormous. He is three times as big as
the other crocodiles in Burundi. He is not very fast and cannot feed on
what other crocodiles in Burundi eat - fish and small mammals. He
attacks slow prey which are easy to capture. He is very dangerous when
he gets out of the Ruzizi River to mate with females. He travels all the
way to the areas of Rumonge and Minago and eats fishermen and bathers
en route. He can eat 10, 15 or 20 people along the bank. One year, I
followed the path he took on one of his forays and 17 people had been
eaten between Kanyosha and Minago, and Kabezi and Magara."" (Source 3,
BBC news)
He even inspired a movie: 'Primeval' (2007).
Video: http://www.youtube.com/
Source:
1) http://
2) http://www.treehugger.com/
3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
Image credit: http://www.dinosoria.com/
Meet Gustave, the Killer Croc of Burundi
The infamous male Nile crocodile living in Burundi, is over 20 feet long, weighs 2,000 pounds, and stands accused of devouring hundreds of people with one estimation claiming that he killed over 300 humans in the past 20 years.
Gustave is around 60-70 years old, and was last reportedly sighted in February 2008. He is surely not the largest crocodile as a
The infamous male Nile crocodile living in Burundi, is over 20 feet long, weighs 2,000 pounds, and stands accused of devouring hundreds of people with one estimation claiming that he killed over 300 humans in the past 20 years.
Gustave is around 60-70 years old, and was last reportedly sighted in February 2008. He is surely not the largest crocodile as a
crocodile in India is
currently the largest known croc at 23 feet, and holds the Guiness
record. But there is none like Gustave.
Apart from being unusually large among the Nile crocs, Gustave can also be easily identified by a few distinct bullet scars that cover his body: one on his head and three on his right side.
Gustave was named by Patrice Faye, a French resident of Burundi and self-taught naturalist who has been pursuing the crocodile since 1998. Faye and a documentary team attempted to capture Gustave in 2002 using an enormous trap. First they tried using live chicken as bait, but later decided to use a live goat instead. One stormy night, the camera installed in the cage to film Gustave's capture went out due to the weather conditions. The next day, the cage was found destroyed and partially submerged in the water and we have no evidence over what happened but we can guess.
According to a Mr. Faye, "He is enormous. He is three times as big as the other crocodiles in Burundi. He is not very fast and cannot feed on what other crocodiles in Burundi eat - fish and small mammals. He attacks slow prey which are easy to capture. He is very dangerous when he gets out of the Ruzizi River to mate with females. He travels all the way to the areas of Rumonge and Minago and eats fishermen and bathers en route. He can eat 10, 15 or 20 people along the bank. One year, I followed the path he took on one of his forays and 17 people had been eaten between Kanyosha and Minago, and Kabezi and Magara."" (Source 3, BBC news)
He even inspired a movie: 'Primeval' (2007).
Video: http://www.youtube.com/
Source:
1) http://
2) http://www.treehugger.com/
3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
Image credit: http://www.dinosoria.com/
Apart from being unusually large among the Nile crocs, Gustave can also be easily identified by a few distinct bullet scars that cover his body: one on his head and three on his right side.
Gustave was named by Patrice Faye, a French resident of Burundi and self-taught naturalist who has been pursuing the crocodile since 1998. Faye and a documentary team attempted to capture Gustave in 2002 using an enormous trap. First they tried using live chicken as bait, but later decided to use a live goat instead. One stormy night, the camera installed in the cage to film Gustave's capture went out due to the weather conditions. The next day, the cage was found destroyed and partially submerged in the water and we have no evidence over what happened but we can guess.
According to a Mr. Faye, "He is enormous. He is three times as big as the other crocodiles in Burundi. He is not very fast and cannot feed on what other crocodiles in Burundi eat - fish and small mammals. He attacks slow prey which are easy to capture. He is very dangerous when he gets out of the Ruzizi River to mate with females. He travels all the way to the areas of Rumonge and Minago and eats fishermen and bathers en route. He can eat 10, 15 or 20 people along the bank. One year, I followed the path he took on one of his forays and 17 people had been eaten between Kanyosha and Minago, and Kabezi and Magara."" (Source 3, BBC news)
He even inspired a movie: 'Primeval' (2007).
Video: http://www.youtube.com/
Source:
1) http://
2) http://www.treehugger.com/
3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
Image credit: http://www.dinosoria.com/
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