Monster crocodile caught in Australia after 10-year search
Canberra, July 10 : Park rangers in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) have caught one of the region's biggest crocodiles after a decade-long hunt.
The male saltwater crocodile measuring 4.71 metres in length and weighing in at 600 kg was trapped by the rangers in the Katherine River, 320 km south of Darwin, on Monday evening, reports Xinhua news agency.
Another 2.37-metre crocodile was also caught in the river on the same day, approximately 60 km downstream of the town of 6,000 people.
Rumours of the monster crocodile have been circulated in the area since its large tail was first spotted near a local boat ramp in 2008.
NT Parks and Wildlife rangers Chris Heydon and John Burke said it was unusual to find a crocodile larger than 4.5 metres in the Katherine River system. "We average a 4.2-metre croc most years, but never this big," Burke told the media on Tuesday.
Traps were deployed in the system two weeks ago after three large crocodiles were observed during aerial surveys earlier in the year.
The two captures brings the total number of saltwater crocodiles caught in the NT in 2018 to 188, seven of which have been in the Katherine River.
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Voting begins for Assam''s 126 assembly seats
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Guwahati (PTI): Polling for all 126 Assam assembly constituencies began on Thursday to decide the electoral fate of 722 candidates, officials said.
In the high-stakes election, the ruling BJP is aiming for a third consecutive term in office, while the Congress seeks to wrest power after being ousted in 2016.
Polling, being held in a single phase, began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations from early morning.
An electorate of 2.50 crore, including 1.25 crore women and 318 from the third gender, can exercise their franchise in 31,490 polling stations across the state.
Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi, assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Several cabinet ministers, including the AGP’s Atul Bora and Keshav Mahanta, and the BPF’s Charan Boro are also in the fray.
The Congress has the highest of 99 contestants, followed by the BJP (90), AIUDF (30), NDA allies AGP (26) and BPF (11).
Opposition alliance’s Raijor Dal is contesting in 13, AJP in 10, CPI(M) in 3 and APHLC in 2. Outside the two coalitions, the AAP is contesting in 18 seats, UPPL in 18, TMC 22, JMM 16 and there are 258 independents.
The ruling NDA’s main constituents are the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF) while the opposition alliance comprises the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI(M), All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) and CPI(ML).
The counting of votes is scheduled on May 4.
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