Lolong Declared World's Largest Crocodile In Captivity After Being Caught By Filipino Villagers (PICTURES, VIDEO)

Crocodile Taken By Villagers Is World's Largest Reptile In Captivity

A gigantic crocodile captured by citizens of the Philippines has been officially declared the largest in captivity by the Guinness World Records.

The 20-foot long (6 metres) crocodile, known as Lolong, was captured by the residents of Bunawan last September.

Since its capture, Lolong became the centrepiece of a new park and research centre which has drawn thousands of tourists to the town. The town's mayor, Edwin Cox Elorde, claims the town has earned 3 million pesos, roughly £45,000, from the massive beast.

It had been blamed for the deaths of a water buffalo and a missing fisherman, so the crocodile was hauled in by a crowd of over 100 people last year, pulled from a river after a three-week hunt.

The crocodile was placed in a fenced cage in an area where the town then built an ecotourism park for species found in a vast marshland in Agusan, an impoverished region about 500 miles from Manila.

The previous record holder was Cassius, a 17-foot Australian croc caught in 2008.

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