A mate sent me a picture of this giant croc which was recently shot on the upper Ume river. The croc was named Bismarck and apparently was a recorded man eater.

Details are sketchy but I would estimate this beast at nearly 17- 18 feet?

Wonder if the Zim lads have any other info on this magnificent trophy?

They're going to need a bigger tree.

Andrew, I got the same picture about a month ago with 2 others with the claim that the croc was shot in the Hoedspruit area of Limpopo. The one pic shows the croc lying close to what seems to be a bulldozed dam wall. The details are really sketchy but I'll post the pics over the weekend.

Wherever it is shot, it's a monster and a fantastic trophy!

Torbjoern

If you assume the guy standing to the right is 5 feet tall, I would put the length at about 17 feet. If he were 6 feet tall, then I'd go with about 20 feet.

That is a very big croc.

But, bear in mind that crocs hung in a tree like this tend to look bigger than they are.

Bloody dinosaur...

quote:

Originally posted by Balule:
Andrew, I got the same picture about a month ago with 2 others with the claim that the croc was shot in the Hoedspruit area of Limpopo. The one pic shows the croc lying close to what seems to be a bulldozed dam wall. The details are really sketchy but I'll post the pics over the weekend.

Could be a hoax?

Now that is one pretty strong bough!

I wonder what kind of tree it wood be - maybe African Ironwood ?

Otherwise, that is still one pretty serious flat dog.

Wasn't this same "photo shopped" photo floating around a year or so ago??

Larry Sellers
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Andrew, let me put it this way: there is both water and crocs there, I wouldn't go hunting there for a monster croc. I have been sneaking around there for 30 years and saw a croc there last week that would go 12 feet, maybe 13ft, biggest I have seen there ever. Impossible no, but unlikely yes.

I got the above pics together with the one you posted in a single mail from a land owner there.

Big sucker regardless.
Thanks for sharing the pics guys.
George

Rumour has it it was a canned croc hunt in that it was a croc bought from a croc farm and put in a small dam and shot- as mentioned that is not confrmed so I hope to be corrected on that!

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Rumour has it it was a canned croc hunt in that it was a croc bought from a croc farm and put in a small dam and shot- as mentioned that is not confrmed so I hope to be corrected on that!

That would be one big damned can--------

Buzz, the wife and I were speculating about that scenario. We also wondered if this isn't a canned battery croc in the sense that it's living in the farm dam being fed the dead chickens or pigs from a commercial operation.

I had a suspicion but did not want to offend anyone. For such a big (old) animal, the tail is so perfect! I wonder if any of the scales on the mid line been clipped for identification etc. My guess is it is over 19 feet & pushing 20.

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Rumour has it it was a canned croc hunt in that it was a croc bought from a croc farm and put in a small dam and shot- as mentioned that is not confrmed so I hope to be corrected on that!

Was it shot in RSA or ZIMBABWE?

Second the big can!!!!
what age for a croc to grow that big?
Scott

Guys, I know the outfitter that had this croc shot, not hunted. It was without a doubt from croc farm and put in a farm dam and shot . If im correct near Bela-Bela ( old Warmbaths ) in South-Africa. Really a sickening hunt in my opinion !! I personally don't think there are wild crocs this size in RSA that are huntable outside wilderness/conservation areas.

And the hunter in the first pic had to dress in his khaki and wear gaiters to do that?

quote:

Originally posted by kallie404:
Guys, I know the outfitter that had this croc shot, not hunted. It was without a doubt from croc farm and put in a farm dam and shot . If im correct near Bela-Bela ( old Warmbaths ) in South-Africa. Really a sickening hunt in my opinion !! I personally don't think there are wild crocs this size in RSA that are huntable outside wilderness/conservation areas.

Agree

Like all the MGM lions with perfect haircuts from SA...

there is no way a croc that size lived in a farm dam that size( as seen in the picture). never heard of a canned croc hunt- but now i have!

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
there is no way a croc that size lived in a farm dam that size( as seen in the picture). never heard of a canned croc hunt- but now i have!

Me either.

I will say that about 10 years ago, we did see a massive croc in a damn in the RSA. I recon it was at least 16 feet . While we were hunting there we saw the tracks where the croc left the damn.

There are plenty of big crocs in SA I run my business out of Alldays were my Ranch IS AND we have both the Magalakwena and Limpopo river on our door steps with plenty of very big Crocs in it, in fact if I can find I way of posting pictures I will post some here of crocs we have seen. Now I know nothing about the croc mentioned above nor do I know were it comes from, so no comment on that. But to think there is not big crocs in SA is very wrong.

Hi Phillip

Mail the pics to balule@mweb.co.za and I'll post them for you.

Hey, not into canned croc at all, but just want to share an important bit of croc trivia... The big bastards can indeed take up residence in small dams for periods of time. Do not trust a small dam in croc country. They travel overland. Bloody things.

Kallie point taken but don't for one moment think you will not find big crocs in small dams, On one of my properties I have A dam that only gets water in the rainy season witch as you know is a very short one were I live, on A new years day 4 years ago we were all swimming in that dam, got there 2 days later and there was a 12 foot croc lying right were we had a braai, closest river 2 miles away! Once again I know nothing of the croc in the photo! so no comment on it. However there is telephone pools all over this country!

I get you Phillip. The original "story" that came out was that the croc was hunted in the Ume river in Zim which is not true.

The only thing I dont like about the idea of hunting crocs is that they seem to be in mosquito country and obviously around water(I get too much of it here).I think I prefer hunting in dry hilly country but things could change.