World’s largest snapping turtle, Big Snap Daddy, dead at nearly 100

Big Snap Daddy, believed to be the world’s largest common snapping turtle, has died in Nebraska after his health rapidly declined, according to state officials. He was nearly 100 years old.

The giant turtle, which lived at the Schramm Education Center in Gretna, Nebraska, weighed 102 pounds (46.3 kg) when he was last weighed in March, much more than the 35 pounds (16 kg) typical for males in the wild.

The turtle was humanely euthanized on Monday after his health rapidly declined over the weekend, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Other details were not released.

“He left a lasting impression on many people during his decades as an education ambassador animal, and he will be missed by those who cared for him and those who visited him,” the commission said in a statement.

Big Snap Daddy was on display at Schramm’s aquarium since the early 1990s after he was caught in the Missouri River near Peru, Nebraska by an angler who originally planned to eat him.

“The angler originally planned to eat him but decided that because the turtle was so large, he wanted to share him and let other people see him,” Schramm Park superintendent and aquarium director Tony Korth said in 2023. “He was 47 pounds when he was donated to us for display.”

Due to his weight, size, and wear to his shell, tail and beak, Nebraska’s leading herpetologist, Dennis Ferraro, estimated Big Snap Daddy’s age to be between 96 and 100 years.

The snapping turtle has the greatest distribution of any turtle in North America, ranging from Texas as far north as southern Manitoba in Canada. While the reptile has very few natural threats once it reaches adulthood, it is unusually susceptible to anthropogenic threats.