An enormous crocodile thought to be 70 years old has been filmed devouring a feral pig in a river in Australia.
In the video, the crocodile, which measures 14.5 feet long, can be seen lifting the pig out of the water and thrashing it about to break it up.
The crocodile—who has been dubbed Scarface due to the many scars on his face—was filmed by David White, owner and operator of the Solar Whisper Daintree River Crocodile & Wildlife Cruises in Queensland.
White told Newsweek: "You may notice in the video he has no teeth. That's why I call him the pork-sucking pensioner. He is old but his age is a guess. [...] We think he's around 70 years old but he may be much older. No one knows how long crocodiles live for, they are very understudied."
It is likely Scarface found this pig after it was washed down to the river during recent heavy rains, White said in a Facebook post. The wildlife in the river, which White dubs the "Daintree Divas," is not "too fussy when it comes to a well marinated dinner."
"On this river system they don't mind how rotten it is," the Facebook post said. In general, crocodiles eat anything, including insects, fish, frogs, crustaceans and small mammals.
White has been observing Scarface during his tour operations for 21 years. The crocodile has become a favorite among locals, and many people who go on White's tours hope to catch a glimpse of him.
"We call [him] the King of the Daintree. He is the boss of the Daintree river where I work," White told Newsweek. "He has about 12 girlfriends but three main ones that he has favored over the last couple of decades. He's a very gentle giant. He is a big attraction literally to the area as many people follow him on Facebook and come to see him."
White has captured many more of Scarface's exploits over the years. And this is not the first instance where Scarface has been seen demolishing his prey.
In March 2022, Scarface was filmed pushing a large cow carcass along the river. In a Facebook post at the time, White said the cow had died giving birth a bit further down the river and drifted to where Scarface picked it up.
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Robyn White is a Newsweek Nature Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on wildlife, science and the ... Read more
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