Facts about Gustave
- 06
Approximately 23 feet in total length including his tail, Gustave weighed an estimated 2,000 pounds, making him significantly larger than the average adult male Nile crocodile.
- 05
During the 1980s and 1990s, Gustave's predation patterns in Burundi coincided with the country's civil war, making it difficult to distinguish between deaths caused by the crocodile versus conflict casualties.
- 04
Gustave's massive size and estimated age of 60 years made him one of the largest and oldest Nile crocodiles ever documented in the wild.
- 03
Captured in a specially constructed 16-by-3-meter trap baited with meat in April 2008, Gustave was transported to a nature reserve in Burundi where he lived until his death in 2014.
- 02
Scars from bullet wounds and crocodile bites covered Gustave's body, marking him as distinctly recognizable to Burundian locals who had tracked him since the 1980s.
- 01
The 18-foot Nile crocodile named Gustave terrorized Burundi for decades, allegedly killing over 300 people before his capture in 2008.