- 84-year-old Australian man, George, has spent his life hunting crocodiles
- Captured 18 foot-long Cassius in 1987 and has stayed with him ever since
- George feeds his one tonne pet everyday, as he has done for 30 years
- Cassius now lives in George's crocodile sanctuary, Marineland Melanesia
A
crocodile hunter who spent 17 years in pursuit of the dangerous animals
now lives with the biggest captive crocodile in the world.
George
Craig, 84, from Green Island, Australia, captured dangerous crocodile
Cassius - who is 18ft-long and weighs a tonne - 30 years ago, and the
pair have lived together ever since.
As
a young man George spent 17 years hunting fierce and dangerous
crocodiles, and relocating them to a safe enclosure, where they weren't a
threat to humans.
While George is sure Cassius knows who he is, he also believes that Cassius would eat him given the chance
George has fed Cassius every day for 30 years and has a soft spot for the gigantic animal
Hello Cassius! The 18 foot, one tonne reptile is the largest captive crocodile in the world
George
captured Cassius in 1987 from a river in the Northern Territory, where
he was notorious for his huge size - and was under threat of being
hunted down and killed by the local population.
Cassisus,
who is missing his front left leg and tip of his tail due to vicious
fights, was deemed a massive threat to humans after attacking boats.
So George set about capturing him to save his life, and bringing him to live in his sanctuary.
Cassius
has lived at George's sanctuary, Marineland Melanesia, for the past 30
years, but even after feeding him every day, George knows Cassius would
eat him in a second, given the chance.
George has long been a brave adventurer. Here he is in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s
George rescued Cassius from angry Northern Territory, Australia, locals in 1987
The crocodile hunter used just rope and his brave spirit to capture the aggressive animal
Billy
Craig, George's grandson who helps run the sanctuary, has now released a
series of photographs charting his grandfather's life with Casssius.
Billy,
23, said: ‘George likes to feed Cassius personally and after 30 years
of being his caretaker, he does have a soft spot for Cassius.
‘Cassius is aware of who George is but there are no illusions that he would eat him if he had the chance, without a doubt.’
‘Cassius
was a problem crocodile with a very aggressive nature. He was becoming
notorious and he would have almost certainly been killed if he hadn't
been removed and taken to a safe place by my grandfather.
George spent 17 years of his life battling dangerous crocodiles and moving them to his safe enclosure
This real-life Crocodile Dundee owns Marineland Melanesa, a crocodile sanctuary
‘He captured him the old-fashioned way - with ropes and brave spirit.
‘He
was then transferred by a truck 1850 miles Cairns and then by boat to
Green Island. George named him Cassius Clay the boxer.’
Cassius
now lives at George's family business Marineland Melanesia, which was
set up in 1969, in order to provide a place for the crocodiles to live
safely.
It was a long journey to bring Cassius home. George travelled him by truck to Cairns and by boat to Green Island
Cassius, in 2014, looks every bit as menacing as he did when he was captured
