Residents of a remote Filipino farming village trapped a 2,300-pound salt water crocodile, possibly the largest ever captured, after a three-week hunt following the death of a fisherman in July. It took a team of 100 people, led by a professional hunter from Australia, to pull the crocodile out of a marshy creek. The animal measured 20 feet, more than two feet longer than the largest crocodile ever captured, though crocodiles have been observed in the wild as long as 23 feet. The search party was after a crocodile that may have killed a fisherman earlier this summer and a child two years ago. There were no human remains in the crocodile’s stomach, though, and the search may continue for another mammoth crocodile seen last week. Killing crocodiles is illegal in the Philippines, and the animal will likely end up in an ecotourism park. Worldwide, crocodiles are responsible for hundreds of deaths each year. A Nile crocodile killed whitewater kayaker Hendrik Coetzee last December.
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