Recently, a gigantic crocodile was found in Sri Lanka that was 17-feet long and thought to weigh over a ton. It was rescued from a canal and in order to get it out, it took the efforts of the entire town, an excavator, and a bulldozer because of its immense size, according to CNN News.

Although this crocodile was large, in fact it was actually the largest ever found in Sri Lanka, the average size of a crocodile is 12 to 14 feet. This prehistoric animal has been around for hundreds of millions of years. Crocodiles are the ultimate predators and are incredible hunters. Due to their well-adaptedness, they have been able to survive for so long.

Although this huge crocodile was the largest ever found in Sri Lanka, there have been even bigger crocodiles seen around the world. According to Our Planet, the largest crocodile that has ever been caught was 20 feet and 3 inches long-more than four times the size of the average person. This crocodile, that was named Lolong after the famed crocodile hunter that risked his life to catch it, weighed 2,370 pounds. This massive crocodile was captured in the Philippines in the town of Bunawan, reported Our Planet. It was believed to have killed a multitude of the natives. After being brought into captivity to keep the townspeople safe, Lolong unfortunately died less than 2 years later due to organ failure and difficulty in the small enclosure that it was kept in, said CNN International. Although this was the cause of a multitude of deaths in the town of Bunawan, the death of Lolong, which became a major part of their town, was mourned greatly. Crocodiles are common in the Philippines where Lolong was found because of the abundance of swamps and rivers that are ideal for crocodiles. The Philippines is also home to some of the world’s largest crocodiles.

Another common area that crocodiles frequent is in Northern Australia’s Adelaide River. Two of the world’s largest crocodiles that have ever been found have been known to come here regularly and were originally spotted and measured here. The names of the two crocodiles are Dominator and Brutus, at 20 feet and 18 and a half feet, respectively (Our Planet). The fact that they live in the same area together makes them rivals and makes this a very dangerous area for tourists and other animals. In fact, Brutus only has three legs, one of which was thought to have come off in either a fight with Dominator or a fight with a bull shark.
Crocodiles are the perfect predator. They have the greatest bite force among all animals weighing in at 3,700 pounds per square inch, 25 times the bite force of a human. Another thing that makes them amazing hunters is that they can run on land and they can swim. Crocodiles are extraordinarily fast and they can run up to 20 miles per hour when they are hunting down a predator.

Crocodiles are brilliant and dangerous animals that can grow to massive sizes. Although this majestic animal is usually found in Australia and Asia, they have been finding refuge recently in Florida and up the Atlantic coast.