Two men are fishing in the waters of the Ruzizi
river in Burundi, a small nation that lies between Tanzania and The Democratic Republic
of the Congo. The sun is hanging low in the sky, and the
men are keeping a wary eye out for hippopotamuses. Nighttime is when the hippos leave the water
to feed so the sun doesn't scorch their sensitive skin, and of all the animals in Africa, they
are the most feared. As the sun sets above them, the men haul in
catfish after catfish, dusk is always the best time to fish- but the commotion has drawn
the attention of something large and cold blooded. Something with hunting instincts honed by
millions of years of evolution, an ancient predator that once preyed on dinosaurs and
then outlived them. Distracted as the men are by their great success,
they don't notice the brief shadows of a large, dark mass moving through the murky waters. One of the men leans down to pick up a large
catfish still struggling on the end of the hook- when suddenly the water erupts with
two tons of reptilian fury, giant jaws seizing the fisherman by his midsection and dragging
him under. With one flick of its mighty tail, the gigantic
crocodile has already pushed itself deep into the waters of the Ruzizi river, and the only
sign of the horrific attack are rapidly diminishing ripples. Just days later, a mother and her children
are doing laundry by the river’s edge- this time in broad daylight. Her teenage son is helping and busily scrubbing
away when suddenly there’s an explosion of water as a giant crocodile lunges out of
the river and seizes the boy by his leg. With barely enough time to scream, the boy
is dragged into the water and drowned- though later his dismembered remains would be found
and identified by local farmers. These are just two of over 300 alleged attacks
against humans by the legendary African crocodile, Gustave. A beast of a crocodile, Gustave has never
been captured but has been observed by scientists at a distance. The monster is estimated to be anywhere between
18 to 25 feet long (5.5m – 7.6 m) and weigh more than two tons. Previously it was thought that Gustave had
to be around 100 years old in order to have reached such incredible size, but observation
of the crocodile when he opened his mouth revealed that Gustave still has all of his
teeth, and crocodiles of that age are nearly toothless. Unlike most other animals, crocodiles never
truly stop growing, and their sizes are only limited by their lifespan- if a crocodile
can avoid predation, disease, or starvation, it can continue to grow indefinitely, and
it's thought that a crocodile's true lifespan is unknown, and only limited by their ability
to continue hunting. Once the teeth are lost though, the crocodile
is no longer able to hunt and thus dies of starvation. If a crocodile’s teeth could keep on growing
forever though, it’s thought that crocodiles may have a life span as great s 150 years,
or possibly even more- which would make them some of the longest lived reptiles in the
world! Another factor working against giant crocodiles
is the necessity for larger and larger prey as they grow, a handicap that Gustave currently
faces. As they get bigger crocodiles are no longer
able to hunt fast, agile prey such as fish, antelope, and zebra, which forces the animals
to hunt much larger prey such as hippos, big wildebeest, and naturally: humans. With 300 deaths attributed to Gustave, it's
believed that the giant killer croc has long ago made the switch to humans and found them
to be easy prey, which only encourages the crocodile to hunt more humans. The first reported kills by Gustave of humans
began back in the 1970s, and its thought that Gustave is about 63-64 years old, meaning
he must have gotten a taste for people quite early on in his life. Yet the initial attacks were blamed on other
crocodiles, and it wasn't until the 80s that they started being linked to the sightings
of one specific, and very large croc. Still, his body count was hard to nail down
as Gustave curiously would not always eat the people he preyed on- often bodies would
be discovered dismembered and in pieces, yet not eaten. Why Gustave was killing people and not eating
them was, and still is a mystery, as dismembered bodies have been discovered as recently as
the 2010s. Perhaps though the explanation can be found
with another terrifying prey animal: the great white shark. Once mature, great whites hunt seals almost
exclusively, their bodies offer densely packed reserves of thick fat which is an excellent
source of energy for the sharks. Most humans on the other hand offer a far
less satisfying treat for the shark, which is why so many shark attacks are limited to
a single exploratory bite, with the animal immediately spitting the swimmer or surfer
back out in disgust when it realizes its mistake. For Gustave, it might be the same case- an
animal as giant as Gustave requires a very high calorie diet, and though crocodiles can
go months without eating at times, for a croc the size of Gustave hunting can be very difficult. It is kind of hard after all to ambush prey
when you are the size of a small truck, the sheer bulk of the animal could be giving it
away to the big hippos and wildebeest it needs to eat in order to survive. Crocodiles do most of their hunting on the
shallows close to the river bank where animals come to drink- and if you're the size of Gustave
there's just not many places where you can lie inconspicuously in shallow water. All that bulk also makes hunting agile prey
such as antelope or fish, which makes up a significant portion of a regular crocodile's
diet, all but impossible. What this means is that Gustave must hunt
every opportunity it has, and while other animals have long learned to fear and respect
the water, we humans have yet to catch on. Perhaps its our perceived mastery of the environment,
our ability to build cities and towns, that has insulated us from the primeval instincts
to fear what my lurk in the water. Whatever the reason, humans tend to be a lot
less careful in the rivers and lakes that Gustave prowls than any other animal, and
with our pathetically weak bodies, we hardly put up a fight. Gustave may simply be attacking out of sheer
instinct, seeing prey and snapping at it the moment it has an opportunity- but after dismembering
a human he may realize what a small meal we are and then spit out its victim. That would explain the discovery of so many
mutilated bodies after a Gustave attack. Of course for others Gustave is a good scapegoat
for their own crimes, and its believed that many guerillas dismember their captives and
dump them in the rivers, knowing the locals will be quick to blame Gustave instead of
them. With little official monitoring of Burundi’s
wildlife, it can be hard to pin down an exact kill count for Gustave, but few doubt that
the big crocodile has an appetite for humans and has killed many dozens- likely hundreds. Gustave has to date attacked women, children,
and men, as well as livestock and pets. Farmers have hunted the animal and even shot
at him, all with little effect. Yet despite his fearsome reputation, the government
of Burundi has never called for his extermination, and instead scientists have actually tried
to capture Gustave in order to move him away from people and better study him. One such capture attempt occurred in 2004,
with a team of scientists being granted two months to attempt to capture the killer croc. Because of a rapidly deteriorating political
situation, the local government was not able to ensure the safety of the scientists past
this time limit, and thus the team got to work immediately on trapping Gustave. But first they had to find the legendary croc,
a feat that was not so easy in the vast African bush. With the aid of hot air balloons and motorized
gliders though the team eventually found Gustave and though they were unable to get close enough
to properly measure him, imprints left in the mud and photos of him sunbathing indicated
he may be as big as 25 feet (7.6 m). If true then that would make Gustave the largest
crocodile ever recorded, far larger than Lolong, the largest crocodile ever held in captivity
who came in at a whopping 20 feet, 3 inches (6.17 m). After finding Gustave the team set to work
setting a series of cage-like traps for Gustave, baiting them with meat hanging in hooks and
an infrared camera to capture images at night. Yet despite leaving the traps out for weeks,
the closest they ever got to luring the croc in was a brief video capture of a very large
croc eyeing the hanging meat from the water just outside the cage. Thinking that perhaps Gustave would respond
better to live prey, the scientists switched to placing live chickens inside the traps-
though again the chickens were ignored, interestingly enough not just by Gustave but by other crocs
as well. When the chickens didn't work, in a scene
straight out of Jurassic Park, the scientists put live goats inside the cages, and yet still
Gustave nor any other crocodile struck. Or so they think- during one particularly
violent rain storm one of the cages slipped into the river and when scientists showed
up the next morning they found the goat gone. Whether it had broken free and escaped the
sinking cage or had actually been gobbled up by a giant croc and the cage failed to
close is anyone's guess. Frustrated by their inability to capture Gustave,
the scientists switched methodology and instead attempted to use tried and true snare traps. The snares had bait- typically large chunks
of meat- sitting on the ground, and once an animal went for the bait, the snare was sprung
and would wrap rope around the animal's body, holding it in place. Incredibly even these failed to capture or
even entice Gustave or any of the other crocs, and with time having run out, the scientists
were forced to leave the country. Since then, political chaos has discouraged
further official expeditions to the area, the political situation being nearly as dangerous
as Gustave himself. However the legend of Gustave had spread far
and wide, and in 2010 a French naturalist named Patrice Faye living in Burundi made
new attempts to capture the legendary beast. He would shoot Gustave, but not with a gun,
but rather a tranquilizer dart. Gustave is likely immune to bullets anyways,
as scientists believe that his hide is so thick and his mass so large that even a large
caliber rifle can't penetrate deep enough into his body to cause serious damage- a fact
supported by the four distinct bullet scars that have been observed on Gustave's body. Faye has another plan- shoot Gustave with
a tranquilizer dart and stop his rampage by moving him to a remote area free of people
or perhaps a man-made enclosure. Yet despite tracking the animal for three
months, during which 17 attacks on people were recorded, and giving out dozens of cell
phones to locals who were instructed to immediately call Faye upon sighting the monster, the quest
to stop Gustave's rampage has failed. Or perhaps not. The last confirmed sighting of Gustave was
in 2015, and the apparently lack of confirmed sightings since then may indicate that Gustave
has at last met his end. In the end it may simply have been the ever
growing influence humans have on the local environment that did Gustave in, with farmers
expanding their fields and pushing wildlife out of the area, the big game that Gustave
relied on may simply no longer be available, and unable to hunt smaller prey, Gustave may
have starved to death. We may never know the giant killer croc's
ultimate fate, but for thousands of Africans living along the banks of the Ruzizi river,
it's still best to keep a sharp eye out when near the waters and never stray too far into
them. Thats our story. If you liked this video, make sure you check
out our other video Prison Escapes That Went Horribly Wrong. See you next time!
Mission failed.. We will get em next time.