Epically large animal alert! Over the weekend, a massive 21-foot crocodile was captured alive in the Philippines, following a three-week hunt for the creature after it attacked a fisherman. The one-ton croc has already become an Internet celebrity, with photos of villagers posing next to the creature circulating widely (fake Twitter account on the way?). As with any monster animal photo on the Internet, Mediaite's Zara Golden is skeptical of its authenticity. "Bunawan is 515 miles south east of Manila, where the story was reported from following a phone call with Sumiller. This wouldn’t be the first time a doctored animal slipped into the news." However, shots from multiple angles (see below) distributed by the Associated Press and Reuters, respectively, seem to lend credence to the story. Edwin Cox Elorde, the mayor of a southern Philippine town, tells the Associated Press dozens of villagers ensnared the saltwater croc, which will be taken to a planned ecotourism park in the area.

After initial sightings at a creek, the hunters set four traps, which the crocodile destroyed. They then used sturdier traps using steel cables, one of which finally caught the enormous reptile late Saturday, he said.

About 100 people had to pull the crocodile, which weighs about 2,370 pounds (1,075 kilograms), from the creek to a clearing where a crane lifted it into a truck, he said.

Here are two angles from the AP reportedly taken on September 4th following two photographs from Reuters taken September 6:

Looks real to us! Video of the crocodile has been captured below:

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John Hudson