An Australian wildlife park has the world’s largest— and possibly oldest—crocodile in captivity
Pic/Instagram
Marineland crocodile park is home to a giant crocodile, Cassius, estimated to have lived for 120 years, with plenty more time to go, according to his handlers. “Cassius is such a magnificent, beautiful boy, and he’s obviously got a major history to tell us,” Sally Isberg, managing director at the Center for Crocodile Research in Australia, said in a video doing the rounds on social media.
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“He’s a happy, healthy boy,” she added. “He has such a personality. He gets called over to one side of the pen and is just happy to wander over… he’s an absolutely fascinating character.” Captured in 1984 near the city of Darwin and transferred to Green Island a few years later, the crocodile Cassius has lived at the Marineland Crocodile Park for over 35 years. Estimated to have lived at least 110 years, some experts have said Cassius could be as old as 120, which would push the known limits of crocodile longevity.
What makes Cassius so unusual is that he has continued to grow despite his remarkable age: During an annual checkup this year, Professor Graeme Webb determined that Cassius had grown another 13 inches since his previous visit nearly 20 years earlier, now measuring a whopping 17 feet and 11.75 inches. Webb had determined during his first visit that Cassius was between 30 and 80 years old, which would mean he could be at least 120, though there is no way to fully determine the croc’s age – especially given his unusual size and growth. The oldest crocodile on record was a croc known as Freshie, who made it to 140 in captivity despite being shot twice in the tail and left eye.
River, bath and beyond?
River in Japanese town turns green
Shocked residents in the picturesque city of Ikoma in Japan could hardly miss the Tatsuta River’s lurid new shade yesterday morning.
Environment chiefs immediately launched an investigation and warned people not to use it.
They combed the riverbank and found large quantities of sodium fluorescein, which is usually red but turns green when it contacts water.
“It is believed that this caused the river water to become coloured. Sodium fluorescein, the main component of colouring agents used in bath salts, was detected.”
In recent years, various similar environmental mistakes and disasters have turned rivers various odd colours.
Naked and not afraid
Pic/Instagram
An absolutely daring fashionista is the talk of Paris’ haute couture fashion week for attending the Jean Paul Gaultier x Julien Dossena show Wednesday in a suit that made him look nearly naked and very muscular. The man was identified by social media users as Estonian rapper Tommy Cash, who has also turned heads at fashion shows for get-ups in which he transforms into French actor and mime Marcel Marceau or a seafood-restaurant table, a look finished with a white tablecloth, cutlery and yummy shellfish.
That wasn’t on the grocery list
A snake exploring a broccoli field got shipped to a British Aldi shop. Neville Linton, 63, picked up the stem of broccoli from the supermarket. Neville plucked it out, unwrapped it and found the tiny ladder snake amazingly still alive, after having been in the fridge for three days.
Running circles
Australia’s Phil Gore recently set a new world record at the 2023 Dead Cow Gully Backyard Masters Ultramarathon by running a whopping 425 miles (685 kilometers) in four days.After running the 6.7 km lap no less than 102 times, he was finally declared the winner of the race.
Senior squares off with bear
A 64-year-old woman required stitches after fending off a bear that had chased her dog. Lynn Kelly, 64, was gardening outside her house, when her pet took off into the woods. The dog returned with a fully-grown bear in pursuit. Lynn said of the encounter, “I had to fight him off. I wasn’t going to run because I know they can catch you.”
Salt or snow?
In Utah, the presence of “watermelon snow” is raising questions about nature. The tinted snow appears in high-altitude environments when the temperature awakens green algae that swim to the surface, where they bloom and divide.
Life-saving banana?
An international team of scientists has created a genetically-modified ‘superbanana’ that contains more Vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency weakens resistance to deadly diseases like measles, so scientists of the Banana 21 project may have created a banana capable of saving millions of children’s lives.
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