iStockphoto / Salsabila Rahma Ayu
For years, a crocodile by the name of Lolong held the Guinness World Record for the longest crocodile ever measured. Lolong passed away in captivity ten years ago but the legend lives on, and now some folks in Malaysia believe they might have spotted the biggest crocodile on Earth.
I’m skeptical. Firstly, when someone makes a claim something being the ‘biggest’ or ‘most’ but the footage was filmed on the fly, my skeptic radar goes off.
In this case, the footage was filmed as they are in Malaysia and driving past an area of mangroves where the massive saltwater crocodile is holed up in the mud during low tide. Lolong measured 20.24-feet (6.17 meters) and weighed 2,370 pounds. Let’s see if you think this croc is bigger than that:
Is this the biggest crocodile I’ve seen in a while? Maybe. Again, it’s hard to tell due to the perspective. Is this the biggest crocodile I’ve ever seen in my life? I have my doubts.
Most of the comments on TikTok agree. Folks replied “that’s a lizard compared to Lolong” and “that’s way too small to be compared to Lolong.” For context, here’s what Lolong looked like being captured:
For all we know, this is the biggest crocodile on Earth. But whoever filmed the video didn’t do themselves or the crocodile any favors as it there’s no frame or reference to illustrate how massive the croc really is.
What we do know is saltwater crocodiles in Malaysia can grow to massive sizes. We also know they can turn into man eaters in Malaysia.
Back in 1992, an 18-foot (5.5 meter) saltwater crocodile was captured and killed. That croc weighed 1984-pounds (900kg) and is believed to have eaten 13 humans over a 30-year span according to this IUCNCSG report.
Again, I’m not convinced that crocodile in the video weighs close to 2,000 pounds but it’s too hard to tell due to the video…