Gustave (crocodile)
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Gustave is a large male
Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern, ...
from Burundi. He is notorious for being a
man-eater A man-eater is an animal that preys on humans as a pattern of hunting behavior. This does not include the scavenging of corpses, a single attack born of opportunity or desperate hunger, or the incidental eating of a human that the animal has kil ...
and is rumored to have killed as many as 300 people from the banks of the
Ruzizi River The Ruzizi (also sometimes spelled Rusizi) is a river, long, that flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa, descending from about to about above sea level over its length. The steepest gradients occur over the first , where h ...
and the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika. Though the actual number is difficult to verify, he has obtained near-mythical status and was greatly feared by people in the region. Gustave was named by Patrice Faye, a
herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...
who has been studying and investigating him since the late 1990s. Much of what is known about Gustave stems from the film ''Capturing the Killer Croc'', which aired in 2004 on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
. The film documents a capture attempt and study on Gustave.


Description

Since Gustave has not been captured, his length and weight are unknown, but in 2002 it was stated that he could be "easily more than " long, and weigh more than . He was estimated to be around 100 years old in order to achieve such outstanding size; however, further more careful observation of Gustave revealed a complete set of teeth when he opened his mouth. Since a 100-year-old crocodile "should be nearly toothless" (according to the documentary), he was estimated to be "probably no older than 60, and likely still growing". Gustave is known for the three bullet scars on his body. His right shoulder blade was also found to be deeply wounded. Circumstances surrounding the four scars are unknown. Scientists and herpetologists who have studied Gustave claim that his uncommon size and weight impede his ability to hunt the species' usual agile prey such as fish, antelope and
zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...
, forcing him to attack larger animals such as
hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
, large buffalo and, to some extent, humans. According to a popular local warning, he was said to hunt and leave his victims' corpses uneaten. The documentary film also stated that since crocodiles can go several months without eating, Gustave could afford to select his prey carefully.


Capture attempt

In ''Capturing the Killer Croc'', Patrice Faye and other scientists attempted to capture Gustave. According to the film, Patrice performed two years of investigations before the attempt. Patrice and his team were given two months for their capture attempt; thereafter a change of government would risk plunging the country into civil war. A trap cage weighing a tonne and nearly 9 meters (30 feet) in length was developed. The team then located Gustave and installed and baited the trap, placing a hidden infrared camera inside as well. Several kinds of bait were used, yet none of them attracted Gustave or any other creature. The scientists then installed three giant snares on strategic banks to increase their chances of capture; although smaller crocodiles were caught by the traps, Gustave was not. In the last week before being forced to leave the country, the team placed a live goat in the cage. Nothing happened until one night, the camera failed during stormy weather. The next morning, the cage was found partially submerged, and the goat had disappeared. The team speculated that the rising waters helped the goat to escape, or that the cage had failed, but without the camera recording, no conclusion could be drawn.


Sightings and possible death

In 2009, Gustave appeared in the Ruzizi River near Lake Tanganyika. In a 2019 article about travel in Burundi, a writer for ''
Travel Africa Magazine Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Trave ...
'' reported learning that Gustave had been killed. It is not said how he was killed or by whom and no photographic evidence has ever surfaced, leaving these claims dubious until more concrete evidence is brought forward.


In fiction

Gustave was the basis of the film ''
Primeval Primeval may refer to: * Primeval forest, an area of forest that has attained great age * Primeval number, a positive integer satisfying certain conditions * Primeval history, name given by biblical scholars to the first eleven chapters of the Bo ...
'' (originally titled ''Gustave'').


See also

*
Lolong Lolong (died 10 February 2013) was the largest crocodile in captivity. He was a saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') measured at , and weighed , making him one of the largest crocodiles ever measured from snout-to-tail. In November 201 ...
, the largest crocodile in captivity until his death on February 10, 2013.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gustave (Crocodile) Individual crocodiles Environment of Burundi Man-eaters 1955 animal births Individual wild animals