Gomek

Gomek was a large Saltwater Crocodile captured by George Craig in Papua New Guinea. He was purchased by Terri and Arthur Jones in 1985 and was kept in Ocala, Florida for five years before being sold to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida. For 8 years he wowed spectators with both his amazing nutria-tossing abilities and his even more amazing tolerance of people. Feeders of the large croc were allowed to go into the enclosure and get as close as 1 meter from the large animal (a normally suicidal proximity) without any fear of attack. While feeders still used long tongs to feed Gomek, he was generally considered to be a "tame" crocodile and was the favorite of the Alligator farm and people around the nation.

After many years, Gomek died of heart disease on March 6, 1997. By then, he was a very old crocodile, and one of the largest and tamest captive crocodile in existence. When he died, he was 17 feet 8 inches (5.5 m) long, and weighed nearly 2,000 pounds - as confirmed by St. Augustine Alligator Farm - and probably between 80 and 90 years old. There is a tribute to Gomek in St. Augustine.

External links

* [http://www.alligatorfarm.us/exhibits.html St. Augustine Alligator Farm]

Navbox
name = Crocs
state = {1|autocollapse}
title = Extant Crocodilian species

above = Kingdom: Animalia· Phylum: Chordata· Class: Sauropsida· (unranked): Archosauria· Superorder: Crocodylomorpha

list1 = Navbox subgroup
liststyle = width:auto;text-align:center; background:#ddddff;
list1 = Gavialidae

list2 = Navbox subgroup
groupstyle = width:10em;
liststyle = width:auto;
group1 = "Tomistoma"
list1 = False gharial ("T. schlegelii")
group2 = "Gavialis"
list2 = Gharial ("G. gangeticus")

list3 = Navbox subgroup
liststyle = width:auto;text-align:center; background:#ddddff;
list1 = Alligatoridae

group4 = Alligatorinae
Nobold|(Alligators)
list4 = Navbox subgroup
groupstyle = width:10em; height:4em;
liststyle = width:auto; height:auto;
group1 = "Alligator"
list1 = American Alligator ("A. mississippiensis")· Chinese Alligator ("A. sinensis")

group5 = Caimaninae
Nobold|(Caimans)
list5 = Navbox subgroup
groupstyle = width:10em;
liststyle = width:auto;
oddstyle = background:#f7f7f7;
evenstyle = background:#fdfdfd;
group1 = "Paleosuchus"
list1 = Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman ("P. palpebrosus")· Smooth-fronted Caiman ("P. trigonatus")
group2 = "Caiman"
list2 = Spectacled Caiman ("C. crocodilus")· Broad-snouted Caiman ("C. latirostris")· Yacare Caiman ("C. yacare")
group3 = "Melanosuchus"
list3 = Black Caiman ("M. niger")

list6 = Navbox subgroup
liststyle = width:auto;text-align:center; background:#ddddff;
list1 = Crocodylidae (Crocodiles)

group7 = Crocodylinae
list7 = Navbox subgroup
groupstyle = width:10em;
liststyle = width:auto;
group1 = "Crocodylus"
list1 = American Crocodile ("C. acutus")· Slender-snouted Crocodile ("C. cataphractus")· Orinoco Crocodile ("C. intermedius")· Freshwater Crocodile ("C. johnsoni")· Philippine crocodile ("C. mindorensis")· Morelet's Crocodile ("C. moreletii")· Nile crocodile ("C. niloticus")· New Guinea Crocodile ("C. novaeguineae")· Mugger Crocodile ("C. palustris")· Saltwater Crocodile ("C. porosus")· Cuban Crocodile ("C. rhombifer")· Siamese Crocodile ("C. siamensis")
group2 = "Osteolaemus"
list2 = Dwarf Crocodile ("O. tetraspis")

below = Alligator-Crocodile differentation· U.S. Alligator fatalities· Crocodile attacks· Foramen of Panizza· Gastralium· cl|Famous crocodiles and alligators· List of crurotarsans· Madras Crocodile Bank Trust· The Croc Festival