Giant Crocodile
Mayor Cox Elorde of Bunawan township, Agusan del Sur Province, pretends to measure a giant crocodile, captured by residents and hunters late Saturday in southern Philippines. GMA

A giant saltwater crocodile, weighing about a ton, has been captured alive by villagers and veteran hunters in a town in southern Philippines. The male crocodile, which is 21-feet (6.4 meters) long, reportedly attacked and killed a water buffalo last month and was also suspected of having attacked a fisherman who went missing in July.

According to an AP report, the giant crocodile, which could be one of the largest crocodiles captured alive in recent times, will be the major attraction of a planned ecotourism park in the town.

We were nervous but it's our duty to deal with a threat to the villagers, Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde told The AP. When I finally stood before it, I couldn't believe my eyes.

The giant animal destroyed the traps set up by the hunters initially; however, sturdier traps with steel cables did the job.

At the end of a hunt which lasted about three weeks, the crocodile was captured along a creek in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province. About 100 people pulled the 2,370 pound (1,075 kilograms) crocodile out of the creek to an area from where a crane lifted it to a truck.

The crocodile was placed in a fenced cage in an area where the town plans to build an ecotourism park for species found in a vast marshland in Agusan, an impoverished region about 515 miles (830 kilometers) southeast of the capital Manila, Elorde said.

He said that the villagers were happy as they could turn the crocodile from a threat into an asset.

Watch Video: