Why was Gustave the legendary killer croc so dangerous?!
Transcript
00:00Two men are fishing in the waters of the Rwuzizi River in Burundi, a small nation that lies
00:05between Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
00:09The sun is hanging low in the sky, and the men are keeping a wary eye out for hippopotamuses.
00:15Nighttime is when the hippos leave the water to feed so the sun doesn't scorch their
00:19sensitive skin, and of all the animals in Africa they are the most feared.
00:23As the sun sets above them the men haul in catfish after catfish, dusk is always the
00:28best time to fish, but the commotion has drawn the attention of something large and
00:33cold-blooded, something with hunting instincts honed by millions of years of evolution, an
00:38ancient predator that once preyed on dinosaurs and then outlived them.
00:43Distracted as the men are by their great success, they don't notice the brief shadows of a
00:48large dark mass moving through the murky waters.
00:51One of the men leans down to pick up a large catfish still struggling on the end of the
00:55hook, when suddenly the water erupts with two tons of reptilian fury, giant jaws seizing
01:02the fisherman by his midsection and dragging him under.
01:05With one flick of its mighty tail the gigantic crocodile has already pushed itself deep into
01:11the waters of the Ruzizi River, and the only sign of the horrific attack are rapidly diminishing
01:17ripples.
01:19Just days later a mother and her children are doing laundry by the river's edge, this
01:23time in broad daylight.
01:25Her teenage son is helping and busily scrubbing away when suddenly there is an explosion of
01:30water as a giant crocodile lunges out of the river and seizes the boy by his leg.
01:36With barely enough time to scream, the boy is dragged into the water and drowned, though
01:40later his dismembered remains would be found and identified by local farmers.
01:45These are just two of over 300 alleged attacks against humans by the legendary African crocodile
01:52Gustave.
01:53A beast of a crocodile, Gustave has never been captured, but has been observed by scientists
01:58at a distance.
01:59The monster is estimated to be anywhere between 18-25 feet long and weigh more than two tons.
02:06Previously it was thought that Gustave had to be around 100 years old in order to have
02:10reached such incredible size, but observation of the crocodile when he opened his mouth
02:15revealed that Gustave still had all of his teeth, and crocodiles of that age are nearly
02:20toothless.
02:21Unlike most other animals, crocodiles never truly stop growing, and their sizes are only
02:25limited by their lifespan.
02:27If a crocodile can avoid predation, disease, or starvation, it can continue to grow indefinitely,
02:34and it is thought that a crocodile's true lifespan is unknown and only limited by their
02:38ability to continue hunting.
02:40Once the teeth are lost though, the crocodile is no longer able to hunt and thus dies of
02:45starvation.
02:46If a crocodile's teeth could keep on growing forever though, it is thought that crocodiles
02:51may have a lifespan as great as 150 years, or possibly even more, which would make them
02:56some of the longest-lived reptiles in the world.
03:00Another factor working against giant crocodiles is the necessity for larger and larger prey
03:05as they grow, a handicap that Gustave currently faces.
03:09As they get bigger, crocodiles are no longer able to hunt fast, agile prey such as fish,
03:13antelope, and zebra, which forces the animals to hunt much larger prey such as hippos, big
03:19wildebeest, and naturally, humans.
03:22With 300 deaths attributed to Gustave, it is believed that the giant killer croc has
03:26long ago made the switch to humans and found them to be easy prey, which only encourages
03:32the crocodile to hunt more humans.
03:34The first reported kills by Gustave of humans began back in the 1970s, and it is thought
03:39that Gustave is around 63-64 years old, meaning he must have gotten a taste for people quite
03:46early on in his life.
03:47But the initial attacks were blamed on other crocodiles, and it wasn't until the 80s that
03:52they started being linked to the sightings of one specific, and very large, croc.
03:58Still his body count was hard to nail down, as Gustave curiously would not always eat
04:03the people he preyed on.
04:04Often bodies would be discovered dismembered and in pieces, yet not eaten.
04:09Why Gustave was killing people and not eating them was, and still is, a mystery, as dismembered
04:14bodies have been discovered as recently as the 2010s.
04:18It's as though the explanation can be found with another terrifying prey animal, the great
04:22white shark.
04:23Once mature, great whites hunt seals almost exclusively.
04:27Their bodies offer densely packed reserves of thick fat, which is an excellent source
04:31of energy for the sharks.
04:33Most humans on the other hand offer a far less satisfying treat for the shark, which
04:37is why so many shark attacks are limited to a single exploratory bite, with the animal
04:42immediately spitting the swimmer or surfer back out in disgust when it realizes its mistake.
04:48For Gustave it might be the same case.
04:50An animal as giant as Gustave requires a very high calorie diet, and though crocodiles can
04:55go months without eating at times for a croc the size of Gustave, hunting can be difficult.
05:01It is kind of hard after all to ambush prey when you're the size of a small truck.
05:06The sheer bulk of the animal could be giving it away to the big hippos and wildebeests
05:11it needs in order to survive.
05:13Crocodiles do most of their hunting on the shallows close to the riverbank, where animals
05:17come to drink, and if you're the size of Gustave there's just not many places where you can
05:22lie inconspicuously in shallow water.
05:25All that bulk also makes hunting agile prey such as antelope or fish, which make up a
05:29significant portion of a regular crocodile's diet, all but impossible.
05:34What this means is that Gustave must hunt every opportunity it has, and while other
05:38animals have long learned to fear and respect the water, we humans have yet to catch on.
05:44Perhaps it's our perceived mastery of the environment, our ability to build cities and
05:47towns that has insulated us from the primeval instincts to fear what may lurk in the water.
05:53Whatever the reason, humans tend to be a lot less careful in the rivers and lakes that
05:57Gustave prowls than any other animal, and with our pathetically weak bodies we hardly
06:02put up a fight.
06:03Gustave may simply be attacking out of sheer instinct, seeing prey and snapping at it the
06:08moment it has an opportunity, but after dismembering a human he may realize what a small meal we
06:13are and then spit out its victim.
06:16That would explain the discovery of so many mutilated bodies after a Gustave attack.
06:20Of course for others Gustave is a good scapegoat for their own crimes, and it's believed that
06:25many gorillas dismember their captives and dump them in the rivers, knowing the locals
06:29will be quick to blame Gustave instead of them.
06:32With little official monitoring of Burundi's wildlife it can be hard to pin down an exact
06:37kill count for Gustave, but few doubt that the big crocodile has an appetite for humans
06:42and has killed many dozens, likely hundreds.
06:45Gustave to date has attacked women, children, and men as well as livestock and pets.
06:51Farmers have hunted the animal and even shot at him, all with little effect.
06:55Yet despite his fearsome reputation, the government of Burundi has never called for his extermination,
07:00and instead scientists have actually tried to capture Gustave in order to move him away
07:05from people and better study him.
07:07One such capture attempt occurred in 2004, with a team of scientists being granted two
07:11months to attempt to capture the killer croc.
07:15Because of a rapidly deteriorating political situation, the local government was not able
07:19to ensure the safety of the scientists past this time limit, and thus the team got to
07:24work immediately on trapping Gustave.
07:26But first they had to find the legendary croc, a feat that was not so easy in the vast African
07:33bush.
07:34With the aid of hot air balloons and motorized gliders though, the team eventually found
07:38Gustave, and though they were unable to get close enough to properly measure him, imprints
07:42left in the mud and photos of him sunbathing indicated he may be as big as 25 feet.
07:48If true, then that would make Gustave the largest crocodile ever recorded, far larger
07:53than Lolong, the largest crocodile ever held in captivity, who came in at a whopping 20
07:58feet, 3 inches.
08:00After finding Gustave, the team set to work setting a series of cage-like traps for Gustave,
08:05baiting them with meat hanging in hooks and an infrared camera to capture images at night.
08:10Yet despite leaving the traps out for weeks, the closest they ever got to luring the croc
08:14in was a brief video capture of a very large croc eyeing the hanging meat from the water
08:20just outside the cage.
08:22Thinking that perhaps Gustave would respond better to live prey, the scientists switched
08:26to placing live chickens inside the traps.
08:28Though again the chickens were ignored, interestingly enough not just by Gustave but by other crocs
08:34as well.
08:35When the chickens didn't work, in a scene straight out of Jurassic Park, the scientists
08:39put live goats inside the cages, and yet still Gustave nor any other crocodile struck.
08:46Or so they think, during one particularly violent rainstorm one of the cages slipped
08:51into the river, and when scientists showed up the next morning they found the goat gone.
08:56Whether it had broken free and escaped the sinking cage, or had actually been gobbled
09:00up by a giant croc and the cage failed to close is anyone's guess.
09:05Frustrated by their inability to capture Gustave, the scientists switched methodologies and
09:09instead attempted to use tried and true snare traps.
09:13The snares had bait, typically large chunks of meat sitting on the ground, and once an
09:17animal went for the bait the snare was sprung and would wrap rope around the animal's body,
09:22holding it in place.
09:23Unfortunately even those failed to capture or even entice Gustave or any of the other
09:28crocs, and with time having run out the scientists were forced to leave the country.
09:32Since then political chaos has discouraged further official expeditions to the area,
09:36the political situation being nearly as dangerous as Gustave himself.
09:40However the legend of Gustave had spread far and wide, and in 2010 a French naturalist
09:45named Patrice Fay, living in Burundi, made new attempts to capture the legendary beast.
09:51He would shoot Gustave, but not with a gun, but rather a tranquilizer dart.
09:55Gustave is likely immune to bullets anyway, as scientists believe that his hide is so
09:59thick and his mass so large that even a large caliber rifle can't penetrate deep enough
10:05into his body to cause serious damage.
10:07A fact supported by the four distinct bullet scars that have been observed on Gustave's
10:12body, Fay has another plan.
10:15Shoot Gustave with a tranquilizer dart and stop his rampage by moving him to a remote
10:19area free of people or perhaps a man-made enclosure.
10:23Yet despite tracking the animal for three months, during which 17 attacks on people
10:27were recorded, and giving out dozens of cell phones to locals who were instructed to immediately
10:32call Fay upon sighting the monster, the quest to stop Gustave's rampage has failed.
10:38Or perhaps not.
10:39The last confirmed sighting of Gustave was in 2015, and the apparent lack of confirmed
10:44sightings since then may indicate that Gustave has at last met his end.
10:49In the end, it may simply have been the ever-growing influence humans have on the local environment
10:53that did Gustave in, with farmers expanding their fields and pushing wildlife out of the
10:58area.
10:59The big game that Gustave relied on may simply no longer be available, and unable to hunt
11:03smaller prey, Gustave may have starved to death.
11:07We may never know the giant killer croc's ultimate fate, but for thousands of Africans
11:12living along the banks of the Ruzizi River, it's best to keep a sharp eye out when near
11:16the waters and never stray too far into them.
11:19That's our story.
11:20If you liked this video, make sure you check out our other video, Prison Escapes That Went
11:24Horribly Wrong.
11:25See you next time!