A tale about a monster crocodile, that would be the biggest in history is true, claims a pensioner whose late father told him stories of seeing the beast.
Doubt has long surrounded claims a 9.7-metre croc – a world record – was shot dead as it lay on the banks of a river at Mackay, in north Queensland, in the 1880s.
But Greg Ellul claims his late father Joe told him stories of paying sixpence to go with his grandfather to see the dead croc’s skin hanging in a pub in the 1920s or 1930s.
Greg Ellul claims his father told him stories of paying sixpence to the see the skin of a 9.7-metre crocodile (pictured), which would be a world record, hung in a Queensland pub in the 1920s
Greg Ellul’s father told him stories of going to see the dead croc hanging up in a local pub
According to reports, the reptile was shot with a high powered rifle from the balcony of the Leichardt Hotel, which overlooked the Pioneer River.
Mr Ellul, who is now 70, says his father would often recall going to view the massive skin stretched across the pub.
‘Grandad took Pop to see it one day and it cost them a sixpence,’ Mr Elull told Daily Mail Australia.
‘He said it was 33ft and when they went into the pub the skin was right across a wall and the tail stretched onto another wall.
‘His father took him to go and see it and he used to tell me it was shot in the Pioneer River on a sandbar at low tide from the Leichardt Hotel.’
A black and white photo of a massive beast lying dead on the banks of the river with rope around its mouth resurfaced earlier this year.
While the historic image hasn’t convinced everyone, there is no doubt in Mr Ellul’s mind.
‘It’s real all right, one thing the old man didn’t know how to do was tell a lie,’ he said.
According to reports, the reptile was shot with a high powered rifle from the balcony of the Leichardt Hotel (pictured), which overlooked the Pioneer River
An article at the time from local paper The Daily Mercury mentions the shooting of a 32-foot crocodile in the Pioneer River (pictured)
An article at the time from local paper The Daily Mercury mentions the shooting of a 32-foot crocodile and says the Australian Encyclopaedia substantiated the claim.
‘J. D. Ogilvy, then curator of the Brisbane Museum, is given as the authority for stating the reptile was shot in the Pioneer River,’ the article read.
The world’s biggest crocodile was Lolong, a 6.17-metre beast, caught off the coast of Cairns in 2011. She died in captivity in Thailand in 2013 at an estimated age of 50.