Lolong

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Largest saltwater crocodile held in captivity

title: "Lolong" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2011-in-the-philippines", "2013-animal-deaths", "2013-in-the-philippines", "agusan-del-sur", "animal-world-record-holders", "deaths-from-pneumonia-in-the-philippines", "individual-animals-in-the-philippines", "individual-crocodiles", "individual-taxidermy-exhibits", "place-of-birth-missing", "year-of-birth-missing"] description: "Largest saltwater crocodile held in captivity" topic_path: "geography/philippines" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolong" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Largest saltwater crocodile held in captivity ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox animal"]

Field	Value
name	Lolong
image	Lolong crocodile.jpg
caption	A photograph of Lolong during captivity
hatch_name
species	Crocodylus porosus (Saltwater crocodile)
gender	Male
death_date
death_place	Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, Philippines
resting_place	National Museum of Natural History, Manila
known	Guinness World Record "world's largest crocodile in captivity"
weight	1075 kg
::

::callout[type=note] the individual crocodile in the Philippines ::

| name = Lolong | image = Lolong crocodile.jpg | caption = A photograph of Lolong during captivity | hatch_name = | species = Crocodylus porosus (Saltwater crocodile) | gender = Male | death_date = | death_place = Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, Philippines | resting_place = National Museum of Natural History, Manila | resting_place_coordinates = | years_active = | known = Guinness World Record "world's largest crocodile in captivity" | weight = 1075 kg | height = | appearance = | website = Lolong (died 10 February 2013) was the largest crocodile ever held in captivity. He was a saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) measured at 6.17 m, making him one of the largest crocodiles ever measured from snout to tail, and weighing 1075 kg.

In November 2011, British crocodile expert Adam Britton of National Geographic sedated and measured Lolong in his enclosure and confirmed him as the world's largest crocodile ever caught and placed in captivity.

Lolong died on 10 February 2013, from pneumonia and cardiac arrest, after a little over one year and five months in captivity.

Capture and habitat

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Lolong.jpg" caption="Lolong in captivity."] ::

Lolong was caught in a Bunawan creek in the province of Agusan del Sur in the Philippines on 3 September 2011. He was captured with the joint cooperation of the local government unit, residents, and crocodile hunters of Palawan in the Philippines, along with the help of Kim Ramos, who happened to be a crocodile expert curious after hearing the story of Rowena Romano.

Hunted over a period of three weeks, it took around 100 people to bring him onto land. He became aggressive at several points during the capture, and twice broke restraining ropes before eventually being properly secured. He was estimated to be at least 50 years old.

Lolong was first suspected of eating a fisherman who went missing in the town of Bunawan, and also of consuming a 10-year-old girl whose headless body was discovered two years earlier. However, disagreement and speculation grew after Lolong's capture that an even larger alleged 24–29 ft (7.3–8.8 m) crocodile, nicknamed 'Potol', was responsible for the attacks. Lolong was also the primary suspect in the disappearance of water buffaloes in the known area. During the examination of the stomach contents after his capture, no human remains or remnants of water buffaloes reported missing before Lolong's capture were found.

The nongovernmental organization activist Animal Kingdom Foundation Inc., with the cooperation of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, had urged the local government of Bunawan to return Lolong to the creek of barangay Nueva Era, where the giant reptile was captured. However, in an ongoing debate, Bunawan mayor Edwin "Cox" Elorde and residents of the barangay opposed the crocodile's release, arguing that Lolong would threaten individuals living in the vicinity of the creek.

Name

The crocodile was named after Ernesto "Lolong" Goloran Coñate, one of the veteran crocodile hunters from the Palawan Crocodile and Wildlife Reservation Center, who led the hunt. After weeks of stalking, the hunt for Lolong took its toll on Coñate's health. He died of a heart attack several days before the crocodile was captured.

Captivity and display

Bunawan made Lolong the centerpiece of an ecotourism park for species found in the marshlands near the township. Mayor Elorde said, "We will take care of this crocodile because this will boost our tourism and we know it can help in terms of town's income and jobs to our village communities."

The ecopark charged a P20 entrance fee for adults and P15 for children, which supported the park's maintenance and procurement of Lolong's food. The Bunawan Ecopark also incurred expenses for electricity, maintenance, and other incidental expenses, such as installation of CCTV cameras. According to Bunawan Mayor Elorde, up to 26 October 2011, the celebrity crocodile had already earned nearly half million pesos in donations, entrance fees, and parking fees, with a daily income of about P10,000 that month.

Record holder

In June 2012, six months after Australian zoologist and crocodile expert Dr. Adam Britton gathered measurements, Lolong was officially certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "world's largest crocodile in captivity" at 6.17 m. Experts from the National Geographic Channel found that Lolong had broken the record of the previous record-holder: a 5.48 m male saltwater crocodile named Cassius kept in the crocodile park of MarineLand Melanesia in Queensland, Australia. The certification was read in public during Bunawan's annual local festival, Araw Ng Bunawan (Bunawan Day).

Bunawan Ecopark and Research Center plans

Bunawan Municipal Planning & Development Officer Robert Floyd Salise, told PNA in an interview that the project will include the construction of cottages, lodging houses or inns, swimming pools, an amphitheatre, laboratory and research center, souvenir shops, pavilion, and other amenities.

Death and storage of remains

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Remains_of_Lolong_at_the_National_Museum_of_Natural_History_(Manila),2025(01).jpg" caption="url-status=live}}"] ::

Lolong was found dead inside his compound at around 8:00p.m. on 10 February 2013. The necropsy revealed he had died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest, which was aggravated by a fungal infection and stress.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Preserved_bones_of_Lolong_at_Philippine_National_Museum.jpg" caption="url-status=live}}"] ::

In 2017, Lolong's stuffed remains were transported to the National Museum of Natural History in Manila, where it has been on display since its opening in 2018.

References

(17 November 2011). ""Lolong" holds world record as largest croc in the world". Biodiversity Management Bureau.
Britton, Adam. (12 November 2011). "Accurate length measurement for Lolong". Croc Blog.
(9 November 2011). "NatGeo team confirms Lolong the croc is world's longest". GMA News.
(9 November 2011). "Philippine town claims world's largest crocodile title". The Telegraph.
link. (19 April 2012 . Pawb.gov.ph (17 November 2011).)
Ortiz, Erik. (10 February 2013). "Tears for a croc: Lolong, the world's largest crocodile in captivity, dies in the Philippines". New York Daily News.
(6 September 2011). "Biggest Crocodile Ever Caught?". [[National Geographic Society.
(5 September 2011). "Giant crocodile captured alive in Philippines". Yahoo! News.
(12 September 2011). "Largest crocodile captured: Lolong The Crocodile sets world record". World Records Academy.
(6 September 2011). "Giant crocodile captured in Philippines – but a bigger one may be at large". The Guardian.
(2009-03-13). "Crocodile kills schoolgirl, 10, in canoe on lake".
Morella, Cecil. (6 January 2021). "Philippines catches 'largest crocodile on record". ABS-CBN News.
(2011-09-10). "Activists want 20-foot croc released in Philippines".
Anda, Redempto D.. (10 September 2011). "'Lolong,' the crocodile hunter". Inquirer News.
(27 February 2013). "Luha ng buwaya". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
(10 February 2013). "World's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity dies in the Philippines". metro.co.uk.
(17 September 2011). "'Lolong' eco-park opens to public". ABS-CBN News.
(27 October 2011). "'Lolong's' Bunawan eco-park earns P500,000". Manila Bulletin.
Britton, Adam. (23 June 2012). "Lolong officially the world's largest crocodile in captivity". Croc Blog.
(23 June 2012). "Largest crocodile in captivity". Guinness World Records.
(23 June 2012). "Giant Crocodile Breaks Size Record—Suspected in Fatal Attacks". National Geographic.
(23 June 2012). "'Lolong' is biggest captured croc – Guinness". [[ABS-CBN Corporation]]news.com.
Gascon, Melvin. "'Lolong' back as star at Nat'l Museum of Natural History". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
(16 February 2013). ""Lolong" Largest Saltwater Crocodile in Captivity is Dead".
[http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/295730/news/regions/pneumonia-stress-contributed-to-lolong-s-death-initial-study-shows "Pneumonia, stress contributed to Lolong's death, initial study shows"] {{Webarchive. link. (11 April 2013 . GMA News Online (20 February 2013).)
"National Museum, Agusan execs agree to preserve Lolong's remains". The Philippine Star.
"Lolong buried in Agusan Sur; bones to be exhumed for museum". GMA News.
Pablo, Jayrome. "Lolong's skeleton on display at Museum of Natural History".
"LOOK: 'Lolong' moves to new home in National Museum of Natural History".
Gascon, Melvin. "‘Lolong’ back as star at Nat’l Museum of Natural History".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::