TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A crocodile that got into trouble in his native Australia for killing too many cows in the wild will be the biggest attraction at the Toledo Zoo’s new Australian-themed exhibit.
But zoo officials say he’ll only get chicken for dinner in his new home.
The 17-foot killer crocodile weighing 1,500 pounds is known appropriately enough as “Big Guy.”
He’ll be the largest saltwater crocodile in North America when he arrives next month, said Jeff Sailer, executive director of the Toledo Zoological Society.
The crocodile has been living at a crocodile sanctuary in Darwin, Australia. He was trapped by wildlife officials about a year ago and moved to the sanctuary because he was attacking cows in the wild and deemed a nuisance animal, Sailer told The (Toledo) Blade (http://bit.ly/XOkQCw).
The crocodile is estimated to be about 40 to 50 years old.
“He does not show any signs of advanced age,” Sailer said. “Crocodiles can live well past 80, sometimes past 100.”
The Toledo Zoo’s new Australian-themed Wild Walkabout exhibit will have wallabies, dingoes, and deadly snakes. But the big crocodile will be the star.
Zoo officials spent several months working with the U.S. and Australian governments to get the crocodile’s trip approved.
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