"We captured it (Monday) using nets, ropes and cables," said Moses Mapesa, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) official in charge of field operations.

"We believe it was about 60 years of age and weighs between 800 and 1,000 kilograms (1,750 and 2,200 pounds)," he told AFP.

The huge reptile was moved quickly to a crocodile farm to save it from a mob of furious villagers in the town of Lugaga who wanted to avenge the deaths of fisherman they say it has eaten in recent years, he said.

Lugaga residents said the crocodile had killed at least five fishermen from the village where it was captured but could not speak for other villages where local media reported that the animal may have killed 70 to 75 others.

Five UWA rangers assisted by dozens of fishermen waited in a three-night vigil for the crocodile to appear before finally trapping it in a swamp in Lugaga.

The UWA said the five-meter (11-foot) long beast was among several crocodiles to have devoured an unknown number of fishermen in Bugiri district, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Kampala over the past several years.

Ugandan authorities blame the deaths on an increased human population and activities that have encroached on crocodile territory around the shores of Lake Victoria in Bugiri district.