UPI – An 18-foot-long crocodile known as the largest in the world is celebrating what his Australian caretakers believe to be his 120th birthday.
The Guiness World Record-holding crocodile, named Cassius, was captured in the Finniss River, in the La Belle Station area of Australia’s Northern Territory, in 1984.
Cassius was captured by a team of scientists after being blamed for a string of cattle deaths in the area.
“He was 16 feet, 10 inches with at least another six inches of tail missing and a bit of a snout missing,” Graeme Webb, one of the scientists who captured Cassius, recalled in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. The crocodile now lives at Marineland Crocodile Park on Green Island in the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.
Toody Scott, whose grandfather, George Craig, purchased Cassius and brought him to Green Island in 1987, said researchers estimate the crocodile is about 120 years old.
“He still has a lot of spark in him,” Scott said. “Generally, the big old reptiles tend to sort of be pretty docile and disinterested. Cassius is always up for interaction. He’s one of our liveliest crocs and very engaging.”
