{"id":336319,"date":"2026-03-18T21:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/336319\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T21:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:39:14","slug":"the-worlds-largest-reptile-is-a-deadly-apex-predator-thats-5-metres-long-and-weighs-half-a-tonne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/336319\/","title":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s largest reptile is a deadly apex predator that\u2019s 5 metres long and weighs half a tonne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are a lot of exaggerated reports of the size of crocodiles, including Krys the Croc from Queensland in Australia, which was reputed to have measured 8.64 metres.<\/p>\n<p>Actual evidence for Krys&#8217; size is very thin, but what isn&#8217;t disputed is that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/australias-terrifying-wildlife-spectacle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saltwater crocodiles<\/a> \u2013 Crocodylus porosus \u2013 are the largest reptiles on earth.<\/p>\n<p>While adult male &#8216;salties&#8217; average 5m and 500kg, females are much smaller, typically under 3m long and weigh less than 100kg.<\/p>\n<p>However, the largest saltwater crocodile ever recorded was around 6.3m long and estimated to have weighed between 1,500-2,000kg. It is also generally accepted that crocodiles of up to 7m probably lived in the past.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Huge-saltwater-crocodile-getty-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, Bhitarkanika, Odisha, India .\" class=\"wp-image-155694\"\/>Saltwater crocodile in Bhitarkanika, Odisha, India. Credit &#8211; ePhotocorp\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>This apex predator can be found in many saltwater habitats, from India&#8217;s east coast, to Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Saltwater crocodiles can live for more than 70 years, although there are reports of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/nile-crocodile-carries-hatchlings\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nile crocodile<\/a> living significantly older in captivity.<\/p>\n<p>Closely followed by the saltwater crocodile for size is the Nile crocodile and the Orinoco crocodile. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Huge-crocodile-saltwater-getty-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Saltwater crocodile\" class=\"wp-image-155692\"\/>Saltwater crocodile in Queensland, Australia. Credit &#8211; Outback to Coast\/Getty Images<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Saltwater-crocodile-huge-getty-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Salt water Crocodile\" class=\"wp-image-155691\"\/>Saltwater crocodile is resting among trees in Queensland, Australia. Credit &#8211; Julia Gomina\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2280\" height=\"1536\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Nile-crocodile-getty.jpg\" alt=\"Nile crocodile - one of the biggest crocodiles around\" class=\"wp-image-155696\"\/>Nile crocodile, coming in second to the saltwater croc. Credit &#8211; Carl Jani\/Getty Images<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1959\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Saltwater-crocodile-grabbing-a-bird--scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Crocodile (saltwater) leaping up to catch bird\" class=\"wp-image-155690\"\/>A crocodile jumping out of a river to catch a bird. Credit &#8211; Mark Nyman\/Getty Images<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Saltwater-crocodile-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-155695\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\"\/>Close-up photo of the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). Credit &#8211; Rizky Ade Jonathan\/Getty Images<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Saltwater-croc-via-getty-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Saltwater crocodile \" class=\"wp-image-155698\"\/>Saltwater crocodile in West Bengal, India. Credit &#8211; ePhotocorp\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are a lot of exaggerated reports of the size of crocodiles, including Krys the Croc from Queensland&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-336319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}