THE world’s largest crocodile was a terrifying man-eating beast known for gobbling up children and fishermen.
Dubbed “Lolong,” the 2,400lb monster was the stuff of nightmares and terrified locals for years before he met his stress induced demise.
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The colossal croc was captured in the Philippines in 2007 after the local community decided enough was enough and they no longer wished to live in fear.
Villagers and government officials joined forces to hunt him down and it took three weeks before they found him lurking in a Bunawan creek.
Once they had located the beast it was all hands on deck as the creature needed 100 men to capture him and wrestle him onto land.
Lolong thrashed around breaking two restraining ropes and attempting to attack his captors before he finally gave in.
At the time of his capture the croc was expected to be 50 years old.
He was suspected of devouring a fisherman and decapitating a 12-year-old girl whose head was found two years before he was caught.
The 6.17 meter long reptile lived out the rest of his days in an enclosure at the Bunawan Ecopark and Wildlife Reservation Center – where he became quite the celebrity.
Lolong earned £23,217 of donations that went towards his food and care.
The famous croc was found dead inside his compound on February 10, 2013.
The necropsy revealed he had died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest, which was aggravated by a fungal infection and stress.
Despite dying 11 years ago Lolong has held onto his impressive title of the world’s largest crocodile.
The zoologist, Adam Britton, who confirmed the record thanked the creature “for amazing the skeptic in me.”
“I didn’t expect to ever see a crocodile greater than 20 feet long in my lifetime, not an experience I will forget easily,” he said.
Lolong’s bones are stored at the Philippines National Museum of Natural History.
It comes as a remote island is being terrorised by 22ft crocodiles hiding in watering holes and dragging children to their deaths.
Bangka Island in Indonesia is quickly becoming the crocodile attack capital of the world.
The island alone has seen some of the most savage attacks the world has ever witnessed – and Indonesia has had almost 10 times more saltwater crocodile attacks than any other country.
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