Crocodiles are impressive creatures. Their massive size and immensely powerful jaws make these creatures "a living link with the dinosaur-like reptiles of prehistoric times." However, one crocodile that stands out among the rest is Henry. Henry is the world's oldest crocodile, and it is not just his age that is impressive.
Henry: The World's Oldest Crocodile
Screenshot from CrocWorld's Instagram
Henry was born on December 16, 1900, making him more than 120 years old—123 years old, to be exact. The U.S. Sun reports that this crocodile was becoming a nuisance to a Botswana tribe. He was eating kids from the tribe, so the villagers enlisted the help of an elephant hunter to remove him from their area.
Sir Henry Neumann was the renowned elephant hunter who took on the job. He successfully captured the world's oldest crocodile and is the one who named him Henry. Besides his age, Henry is impressive because of his size as well. He is approximately the length of a minibus.
Henry is 16 feet long and weighs approximately 1,652 pounds. His size and huge jaws make this crocodile quite the threat. Since his dark past, he has been living in captivity at the Crocworld Conservation Centre in Scootsburgh.
Another Title Holder
Although Henry is the world's oldest crocodile, he is not the largest. This may be surprising, considering he is the size of a minibus. However, there is a crocodile who is even bigger. Enter Cassius. This Australasian crocodile was "officially recognized by the Guinness World Record in 2011 as the world's largest living saltwater croc."
Similar to Henry, Cassius had a dark past as well. He was known for attacking boats and snatching cattle from waterways. Cassius measures 16 feet and 10 inches. He was caught in Finniss Creek in 1984. While he is close to Henry's age, he is not quite as old. However, it is believed that Caissus would have been even longer. A crocodile researcher told ABC News, "There was at least another 6 inches of tail missing and bit of a snout missing." This crocodile would be over 17 feet long if those six inches were added!
