An alligator caught in the United States is the biggest recorded in Mississippi state and it could be 100 years old.
According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP), the 10-foot-2-inch creature was caught on the Pearl River on August 28 by two brothers, Jim and Richie Denson. The reptile broke the state record for the longest female alligator, officials said on Twitter.
Take a look at the images of the alligator below:
As per Newsweek, Jim Denson said the giant creature "broke a heavy fishing rod and a snare pole". However, the two brothers were still able to lift her aboard the boat.
In a press release, Riky Flynt, alligator program coordinator of the MDWFP informed that the alligator was first tagged by biologists in 2009 and is known as "Yellow 410". "We tagged this alligator on June 11, 2009, as part of a research project. At that time, the alligator also measured exactly 10 feet, 2 inches, and was captured within 100 yards of where the Densons killed the record alligator," he said.
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Further, Flynt added that while it is not clear how old Yellow 410 was when she was first captured in 2009, she did not grow even one inch since then. "Given that knowledge and what we have learned from tagged alligators in the wild, it is entirely possible that this record alligator could easily be as much as 75 to 100 years old. This is definitely a world-class alligator specimen," he stated.
Meanwhile, as per the outlet, Mississippi is home to around 32,000 to 38,000 alligators. Hunting is legal in the state, as it helps control the abundant alligator population in the region. Those with hunting permits are allowed to capture only two alligators that exceed more than 4 feet, and only one may be greater than 7 feet in length.
