Giant New Orleans Crocodile Pictures
Emailed pictures of a gigantic crocodile purportedly captured in the flooded streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
Description: Email hoax
Circulating since: Sep 2005
Status: Images are mislabeled
Email example contributed by Debbie S., Sep. 16, 2005:
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FW: What a crock!-- New Orleans This crocodile was found in New Orleans swimming down the street. 21 FT long, 4,500 lbs, around 80 years old minimum. Specialists said that he was looking to eat humans because he was too old to catch animals. This crocodile was killed by the army last Sunday at 3:00 pm, currently he is in the freezer at the Azur hotel. The contents of its stomach will be analyzed this Friday at 2:30pm.  Click to Enlarge |
Analysis: The pictures are real, but the caption is false. These photos were not taken in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They were taken in 2003 and document the capture of a 16-foot crocodile in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo. The incident was covered in the July 17, 2003 edition of La Semaine Africaine. (See article linked below.)
Some versions of this message identify the beast as an alligator, making it doubly erroneous.
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Sources and further reading:
The Monster Crocodile of Pointe-Noire
Netlore Archive, 22 March 2005
Related:
Quiz: Real or Fake?
Take the Urban Legends Image QuizThe Urban Legends Slideshow
Weirdest collection of pics on the Internet!
Last updated: 09/19/05
