Filipinos hunt second killer croc after 1-tonne catch

Wild encounter

After the 20-foot saltwater crocodile was caught over the weekend, authorities said on Tuesday an even bigger killer crocodile may lurk in creeks of the remote southern region.

The crocodile — weighing 1,075 kilogram and estimated to be at least 50 years old — is the biggest caught alive in the Philippines in recent years. Wildlife officials were trying to confirm whether it was the largest such catch in the world.

It was captured alive after a three-week hunt in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province, where villagers have been terrified. A child was killed two years ago in the township by a crocodile that was not caught, and a croc is suspected of killing a fisherman missing since July. Villagers witnessed a crocodile killing a water buffalo last month.

Wildlife official Ronnie Sumiller, who led the team behind the capture in Bunawan, said a search was under way for a possibly larger crocodile he and villagers have seen roaming in the town’s marshy outskirts. “There is a bigger one, and it could be the one creating problems,” he said.