A famous crocodile hunter has died aged 94 just weeks after his greatly-loved saltwater crocodile passed away aged 110.
George Craig had a special relationship with a three-legged, man-eating beast called Cassius, which he kept in his wildlife park Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat on Green Island, off the coast of Cairns, Queensland.
Cassius, a crocodile notorious for causing trouble, was captured in 1984 near a cattle station on the Finniss River, southwest of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory.
At the time of his capture, Cassius was estimated to be between 30 and 80 years old and set the record as the largest crocodile ever captured alive in Australia.
Three years after he was captured, Cassius was moved to Green Island. There, Cassius lived a life in luxury with Craig and celebrated his birthdays with chicken ‘cake’.
Cassius, who weighed more than one ton and measured 18 feet long, had been in declining health since October his caretakers said, when Craig himself was forced to leave Green Island due to ill health.
Cassius died aged 110 at the beginning of November and Craig passed away just two weeks later on November 17.
The crocodile and the former hunter developed a bond that was, according to one crocodile expert, ‘absolutely odd’. Cassius could often be seen ‘bolting out of the water’ to greet his keeper Craig.
Famous crocodile hunter George Craig (pictured) has died aged 94 just weeks after his greatly-loved saltwater crocodile passed away aged 110
George Craig had a special relationship with a three-legged, man-eating beast called Cassius, which he kept in his wildlife park called Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat on Green Island, off the coast of Cairns, Queensland
Cassius (pictured), who weighed more than one ton and measured 18 feet long, had been in declining health since October his caretakers said, when Craig himself was forced to leave Green Island due to ill health
Professor Graeme Webb, from Crocodylus Park in Darwin, told ABC News Australia that Craig and Cassius were ‘very close’.
‘When Cassius died, that wouldn’t have heralded well for George. The relationship between the two was absolutely odd. George would have to stay back from the window because Cassius would come bolting out of the water.’
‘They were equals – they were mates,’ crocodile catcher Roger Matthews said.
Craig was born to English parents in Peru on July 10, 1930, and was in London during WW2. A 500lb bomb even landed on hisn street, but luckily it failed to explode.
He later had a stint blowing up ordnance for the Royal Australian Air Force, before he decided to be a crocodile hunter on the Adelaide and Daly Rivers in Australia’s North Territory in 1951.
He later worked on the Fly River in Papua New Guinea from 1956 until 1971.
But he later developed a deeper understanding for the beasts and opened a trading post with his wife to trap and keep live crocodiles instead of killing them, the Telegraph reports.
Craig moved with his family, three monster crocodiles and 30 smaller juvenile beasts he capture to Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef, north of Queensland, in 1971 to set up Marineland Melanesia.
Green Island Marineland Melanesia’s George Craig (pictured) feeding Cassius who has died at the age of 110
Cassius was captured in 1984 near a cattle station on the Finniss River, southwest of Darwin
Before his life a captivity Cassius was known to prowl the waterways of Australia before being taken to Marineland Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat
The park was a major success, which was boosted by box-office hit Crocodile Dundee.
One of its biggest stars since 1987 has been Cassius, who held the Guinness World Record as the world’s largest a saltwater crocodile in captivity.
He took the title after the 2013 death of Philippines crocodile Lolong, who measured 6.17 m (20 ft 3 in) long, according to Guinness.
‘He had these big eyes that you’d look into and you could look into his soul,’ one of his former keepers, Toody Scott, told AAP.
‘He always had this spark about him, which is very different to working with other crocs.’
Scott said the croc had an especially close bond with his caretaker Craig and the pair would sit quietly together for ‘hours on end’.
Scott said: ‘In the last couple of years, George has been getting around on a mobility scooter and every time he came near the enclosure, Cassius would come over to him.’
In a post on Facebook, his caretakers said: ‘He was very old and believed to be living beyond the years of a wild Croc.
‘Cassius will be deeply missed, but our love and memories of him will remain in our hearts forever.’
The group’s website said he had lived at the sanctuary since 1987 after being transported from the neighbouring Northern Territory.
Crocodiles are a key part of the region’s tourist industry and Cassius became the star attraction.
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