I received an email today from Rich Elliot of Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris; sadly Lake Chamo will be closed for hunting after July 8, 2007. They were completely booked up all the way through 2010 and not booking any more clients. He said none of that mattered though as the entire Lake was now (soon) closed to hunting. He didnt say why the change in regulations but he didnt sound happy about it either.

Lake Chamo in Ethiopia has been taking consistent 17ft crocodiles and ERVS said it was only a matter of time before a 20ft croc was to be found. Sad for the rest of us but congratulations to those who were lucky enough to hunt there.

Here is a link from the SCI #1 on huntingreport.com:

http://www.huntingreport.com/trophy_gallery.cfm?id=120

Is there any news on why crocodile hunting in Lake Chamo was closed. I was one of the lucky ones who hunted there (July of 2006 - 17 1/2 feet).

quote:

Originally posted by hkyhunter:
Is there any news on why crocodile hunting in Lake Chamo was closed. I was one of the lucky ones who hunted there (July of 2006 - 17 1/2 feet).

I assume the measurement was taken "over the curves", as seems the norm these days?
Did you also happen to measure it "peg-to-peg"? I'd be very interested in the comparision. Thank You.

quote:

Originally posted by hkyhunter:
Is there any news on why crocodile hunting in Lake Chamo was closed.

He didnt say. He posts either here or at Nitroexpress.com - I often get the two confused to what I read and where. Hopefully he will log on and tell us.

The measurement was over the curves. I was curious about that myself, but was told that is how crocs are now measured. Did not get a between the pegs measurement.

quote:

Originally posted by hkyhunter:
The measurement was over the curves. I was curious about that myself, but was told that is how crocs are now measured. Did not get a between the pegs measurement.

Much appreciated. I was just hoping to get some real comparative data from an objective source. Thanks Again.

In my experience, you get roughly 12 - 18 inches more over the curvedepending on who is measuring

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
In my experience, you get roughly 12 - 18 inches more over the curvedepending on who is measuring

That falls in line with that which I've gleaned from reports over the years, regardless of species. It is my contention that a peg-to-peg measurement should be done, whenever possible, accompanied by an over-the-curves measurement.
Over time, such will establish the baseline differentials between the two systems which may prove helpful in instances where only one of the two systems had been employed in the past and also in the formulation of comparisions of specimens of similar length but clearly disimilar weight and girth. While I am of the opinion there exists today, no 20 foot specimen of Nile crocodile, I would be as thrilled as the next guy to be proven wrong. Love them crocs!

quote:

It is my contention that a peg-to-peg measurement should be done, whenever possible, accompanied by an over-the-curves measurement.

I agree with Nickudu.

It is important to remember that animals like crocodiles (and lizards etc) increase in weight/bulk to the cube of their length.

Thus a 16 ft compared to 15 ft:

16/15 X 16/15 X 16/15 = 1.21.....thus a 20% increase in size.

If measuring along the curves adds 18 inches then that means a 15 footer becomes 16.5 feet. However, a "genuine" 16.5 footer will weigh a 1/3rd more than a 15 footer.

A 17 footer "peg to peg".......note the difference to "trophy sizes"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssmTN2kCgMQ