A famous crocodile hunter has died at the age of 94, just weeks after his much-loved saltwater crocodile died at the age of 110.
George Craig had a special relationship with a three-legged man-eating beast called Cassius, which he kept at his Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat wildlife park on Green Island, off the coast of Cairns, Queensland.
Cassius, a crocodile known 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 his capture, Cassius was transferred to Green Island. There, Cassius lived a life of luxury with Craig and celebrated his birthdays with chicken “pie.”
Cassius, who weighed more than a ton and was 18 feet long, had been in worsening health since October, his keepers said, when Craig himself was forced to leave Green Island due to health problems.
Cassius died at the age of 110 in early November and Craig passed away just two weeks later on November 17.
The crocodile and the former hunter developA link that one crocodile expert said was “absolutely strange.” Cassius could often be seen “running out of the water” to greet his goalkeeper Craig.
Famed crocodile hunter George Craig (pictured) has died aged 94, just weeks after his much-loved saltwater crocodile died aged 110.
George Craig had a special relationship with a three-legged man-eating beast called Cassius, which he kept at his wildlife park called Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat on Green Island, off the coast of Cairns, Queensland.
Cassius (pictured), who weighed more than a ton and was 18 feet long, had been in worsening health since October, his keepers said, when Craig himself was forced to leave Green Island due to health problems.
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 boded well for George. The relationship between the two was absolutely strange. George would have to stay away from the window because Cassius would run out of the water.
“They were equals, they were teammates,” said Gators catcher Roger Matthews.
Craig was born to English parents in Peru on July 10, 1930, and was in London during the Second World War. A 500-pound bomb even landed on their street, but fortunately it did not explode.
He later worked exploding munitions for the Royal Australian Air Force, before deciding to be a crocodile hunter. in the Adelaide and Daly rivers in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1951.
He later worked on the Fly River in Papua New Guinea from 1956 to 1971.
But he later developed a deeper knowledge of the beasts and opened a trading post with his wife to catch and keep crocodiles alive instead of killing them, the Telegraph reports.
Craig moved his family, three monster crocodiles and 30 smaller juvenile animals he captured to Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef, north Queensland, in 1971 to establish Marineland Melanesia.
George Craig of Green Island Marineland Melanesia (pictured) feeds Cassius, who died at the age of 110
Cassius was captured in 1984 near a cattle station on the Finniss River, southwest of Darwin.
Before his death, Cassius, captive, was known to prowl the waterways of Australia before being brought to Marineland Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat
The park was a huge success, boosted by the box office hit Crocodile Dundee.
One of its biggest stars since 1987 has been Cassius, who It held the Guinness World Record as the world’s largest saltwater crocodile in captivity.
It earned the title after the 2013 death of the Philippine crocodile Lolong, which measured 6.17 m (20 ft 3 in) long, according to Guinness.
“He had big eyes that you could look into his soul,” one of his former caretakers, Toody Scott, told AAP.
“He always had that spark, which is very different from working with other crocodiles.”
Mr Scott said the crocodile had an especially close bond with his keeper Craig and the pair would sit in silence for “hours at a time”.
Scott said: “Over the last few years, George has been traveling on a mobility scooter and every time he approached the venue, Cassius would approach him.”
In a post on Facebook, his keepers said: “He was very old and believed to have lived beyond the years of a wild crocodile.”
“Cassius will be deeply missed, but our love and memories of him will remain in our hearts forever.”
The group’s website said it had lived at the sanctuary since 1987 after being transported from the neighboring Northern Territory.
Crocodiles are a key part of the region’s tourism industry and Cassius became the star attraction.