“Unbelievable Beasts: Discover the Colossal Creatures Roaming Our Planet Today!”
The Giant Mekong Catfish Is Endangered
On May 1, 2005, fishermen from northern Thailand caught this giant catfish in the Mekong River. (That’s why the species is named the Mekong giant catfish). The fish weighed 646 pounds and was nearly nine feet long (as large as a grizzly bear). The fish was the largest freshwater fish ever recorded. Unfortunately, these fish are disappearing. Zeb Hogan, a member of the World Wildlife Fund told the media, “I’m thrilled that we’ve set a new record, but we need to put this discovery in context: these giant fish are uniformly poorly studied and some are critically endangered. Some, like the Mekong giant catfish, face extinction.”
The Saltwater Crocodile That Eats Sharks
Male saltwater crocodiles can weigh as much as 1,000 to 2,000 pounds. In 2014, Brutus the giant saltwater crocodile made headlines for chomping down on a bull shark. The 18-foot long croc was photographed in Kakadu’s Adelaide River. He initially became famous for eating kangaroo meat on a “jumping crocodile” tour in 2011. But his fight with a shark three years later really cemented his celebrity status. Harry Bowman from Adelaide River Cruises explained: “It’s pretty gobsmacking for them. A lot of people who come on these cruises haven’t seen a crocodile before. To see them in the wild up so close, I think they’re awed. It’s like seeing a dinosaur really.”
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