An enormous 16ft beast weighing 700 kg and fathering thousands of hatchlings is now recognised as the world’s oldest crocodile. Meet Henry, the man-eating Nile crocodile, who at 123 years old has sired over 10,000 babies with his six ‘wives,’ according to the zoo where he lives.
Henry’s journey began in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where he was born on December 16, 1900, as per the Sun. Renowned for his terrifying fang-like teeth and massive frame, Henry is now believed to be the largest living crocodile, with a length that almost matches a minibus. However, his past is far from ordinary.
In the early 1900s, Henry developed a notorious reputation among the local tribes in Botswana, where he allegedly preyed on human children. The tribes, desperate to end his bloodthirsty reign, sought the help of a famed hunter, Sir Henry Neumann, after whom the crocodile was named. Rather than killing the beast, Mr Neumann captured Henry, sentencing him to a lifetime of captivity.
For the past three decades, Henry has lived at the Crocworld Conservation Centre in Scottburgh, South Africa. There, he continues to awe visitors with his size and age, making him one of the oldest crocodiles in captivity. His dark, man-eating past is a stark contrast to his current life as a zoo attraction, where he is admired from a safe distance.
Henry is a Nile crocodile, a species found in 26 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. These apex predators, known for their fierce nature, are responsible for hundreds of deaths in the region each year.
While Henry is the oldest crocodile, the largest belongs to Cassius, a 16 ft saltwater crocodile living in Australia. Cassius, captured in 1984, has become a star attraction at the Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat on Green Island, off the coast of Queensland.
