Monster 360 kg alligator trapped in Florida

This image is not photoshopped!

A huge alligator, which weighed some 800 pound (363 kg) and measured more than 15 feet, was captured by two hunters on a Florida farm after it killed its cattle.

The large reptile was shot by Lee Lightsey who runs hunts for alligators, wild boar and turkey on his farm near Okeechobee in south east Florida.

“Although this animal is huge I was not that surprised it existed,” Lee Lightsey, one of the hunters was quoted as saying, adding, “We have come across lots over the last 20 years that have been only a little smaller.

“But what really drew our attention to this animal was the fact that it seems to have been feasting on the cattle on my farm, because mutilated body parts were found in the water. It was a monster which needed to be removed.”

American alligators are especially common in Florida and can range from 10 to 15 feet long. They live in freshwater environments, such as ponds, marshes and rivers.

The Florida state record for the largest alligator caught is 14 feet, 3 1/2 inches from Lake Washington, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee.

That gator weighed in at 654 pounds (296 kg) but is not the heaviest on record. The record holder in Florida for weight is 1,043 pounds (473 kg). 

Image: Nine-year-old Mason Lightsey is pictured with a 363 kg giant alligator caught at his father Lee Lightsey's farm in Venus, Florida. Photograph: Lee Lightsey/Outwest Farms, INC/Reuters