The 5.5-metre-long ancient crocodile, the world’s largest crocodile in captivity, is healthy but occasionally shows signs of trauma from its turbulent youth in the wild.
Cassius, a 120-year-old crocodile living in captivity in Australia, is “happy and healthy” and will live “for many years”, experts who carry out his annual checkup say.
“Cassius is a wonderful, beautiful kid,” said Sally Isberg, executive director of the Australian Crocodile Research Centre. “He’s an absolutely fascinating character.”
Cassius, the world’s largest captive crocodile at 5.5 meters long, recently turned 120 years old. “A health assessment on June 19 revealed that Cassius will live for many more years.”
Adam Rosenblatt, a biology professor at the University of North Florida, said researchers don’t know how long saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) can live, but they may die of old age.
“My own educated guess is that the maximum life expectancy of crocodiles as a group is 100 to 120 years, but they can only reach that age in captivity,” said Robenblatt. “In the wild, most crocodiles probably don’t live past 60.”
Cassius has spent more than 35 years at Marineland Alligator Park on Green Island. He was caught on a cattle ranch in 1984 after attacking cattle in the wild for up to 80 years.
The giant crocodile became cranky when the rangers used machines around the park, and this may have been related to trauma he experienced in the wild, the researchers said.
The guards said Cassius “acted funny” and “reacted badly” when they used loud equipment and machinery near his enclosure.
When captured, Cassius was missing the tip of his nose, leading researchers to speculate that he was responsible for attacks on boats that were moored by another crocodile named Mila at the time.
“He had a broken tip of his nose that you could get from a screw attack,” Graham Webb, an alligator researcher involved in the capture, told ABC News.
Crocodiles have extremely sensitive mouths and Cassius may be more sensitive than most.
“The scales on the front of their mouth are pressure receptors; they all aim to hone the prey,” Isberg said. “Maybe those boat engines were creating an extra vibration that really bothered him. “When an alligator is bothered by something, the only way to express that discomfort is to bite it,” Isberg said.
Next year the ancient crocodile will undergo another examination. To avoid stressing the animal, assessments are usually made by observation. “Crocodiles are the best hunters that have a very strong fight-or-flight response,” Scott said. “If it is restrained, a reaction will be triggered, and then it may take some time for the crocodile to recover.”
Meanwhile, keepers clear the treetops above his barn, ensuring Cassius gets enough sunlight to stay healthy.
“A stress-free alligator will usually self-heal any injury and not get sick because it has a stronger immune system than a stressed alligator,” Scott said.
Source: Port Altele
