The story of 'monster' Gustave - one of the 3 most feared legends in history

Supposedly "defeated" by more than 300 people in the living area, this "swamp assassin" is truly a terrible nightmare for Africans.

For more than 20 years, people near Lake Tanganyika in Burundi have always been frightened by the onslaught of one of the world's largest freshwater crocodiles. The 7 meter long crocodile that has been named Gustave has a scary . craving for humans.

Gustave - the legendary "meat mincer" in history

Gustave is a Nile crocodile , living on the north bank of the second largest freshwater lake in the world, Tanganyika, in Africa.

The Nile crocodile is famous for its aggressive and superior size compared to other crocodiles, Gustave himself is also the longest individual ever found. However, Gustave is famous not for being the biggest, but for his bloodthirst.

Gustave is a Nile crocodile.

Gustave's number of victims has reached 200, but it is believed that this number must actually reach more than 300.

The story tells that Gustave lives in a small pond in a village in Burundi. It was around this time where war and genocide occurred.

It is the corpses that float away into "daily meals" , gradually turning Gustave into a "meat grinder" and according to the word of mouth of indigenous people, it has "become refined" , even know how to think think.

This "swamp assassin" is capable of surprisingly rapid surge speeds, reaching 12-14 km / h. They can swim quite fast by moving the body, tail is sinusoidal, and maintained for a long time.

This "swamp assassin" is capable of surprisingly rapid surge speeds, reaching 12-14 km / h.

With Gustave's teeth intact, it can bite the prey with just one bite.

Efforts to capture "swamp killer"

In the past, every attempt to catch or kill Gustave was unsuccessful. However, there is a crocodile hunter who believes that there may be a more humane solution to prevent this "killing machine" .

Patrice Faye is French, but he has lived in Burundi for more than two decades. The name Gustave is because he gave the "murderer" that he had been studying and following.

He has become a local hero 11 years ago when he made his first attempt to catch Gustave with a trap - he has not succeeded so far.

In an interview with the BBC, Faye said: "This monster has a very strong survival instinct, which helped it survive the period when other crocodiles were mercilessly slaughtered." .

Although his opponent was a cold-blooded killer, Faye still showed respect for this tough opponent, and didn't really mean to kill it.

"We live in an era where these creatures are increasingly rare. It's a monster that came out of prehistoric times. In the water, it's big, fast and strong like a hippo. Its intact teeth show it is about 68 years old, " Faye said.

Because of the fact that a crocodile is about 7 meters long, it may have an age of up to 100, and usually there are intact jaws. This means that Gustave can also be much bigger than the present.

During a hunt of Gustave that lasts about 3 months of Faye, 17 of Gustave's victims have been recorded. This has led Faye to believe that the 300 number within 20 years is completely grounded.

This is the world's largest freshwater crocodile.

Indigenous people believe that Gustave killed people as a hobby, not because of food reasons, despite the attacks on many targets at the same time. They also said that he knew how to plan his attacks, but Faye did not think that was true:

"I don't think the problem is about hobbies, but being in a conversation can ensure easy meals."

Faye points out that, with his enormous size, Gustave will be more difficult to hunt for agile prey like fish, antelopes or zebras. In addition, to sustain that weight, the amount of food loaded is also a problem.

"Gustave has no choice but to find easy prey" and indigenous people living near the lake are the " brightest candidate" next to the hippopotamus and wildebeest.

Gustave has no choice but to find easy prey like wildebeest, hippopotamus .

So, what is the best way to deal with this monster? Faye hopes that, until someone catches or kills Gustave, finding traces of it will minimize the number of victims.

"I have a lot of sources. In Burundi, thousands of people live along the lake, especially fishermen, who spend most of their time in the country. I give them a dozen phones to call me regardless. when there is a clue ".

Although there were a few locals who wanted to use guns to stop Gustave, they failed."Many fishermen said that they definitely shot it. But it seems that its thick skin is resistant to bullets."

"Maybe, need more than a bullet to stop this bloodthirsty monster," said Faye thoughtfully.