Mega gator catch is largest in Alabama

A family in Alabama hauled in a monster alligator over the weekend, setting a record for size in the southern US state, media reports said on Monday.

The 4.5-meter animal, weighing 459 kg, struggled for hours in the Alabama River against a group of relatives who turned catching it into a family affair, news website AL.com reported.

The news portal said the alligator was the largest legally hunted gator recorded in the history of the state and was comparable in size with the biggest on record in the entire US south, where the species lives.

John and Mandy Stokes, plus their two children and a brother-in-law, said it was the first time they had requested a permit to hunt alligators.

"Right now, the fairest way for me to say it is that we'll apply (for a permit) again," Mandy Stokes was quoted by the website as saying.

"But I can assure you, I have no desire to hook into anything like this again. I truly don't," she added.

The alligator was so big, it broke the mechanism used to hoist it, and a backhoe had to be used to lift it to be weighed.

The gator was measured at a check station by state Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries officials at Roland Cooper State Park, where it was caught.

(China Daily 08/20/2014 page10)