Famous crocodile hunter dies at 94, just weeks after his beloved the world’s largest saltwater crocodile died at 110

A famous crocodile hunter has died aged 94, just weeks after his beloved 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 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 have been 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 cake.

Cassius, who weighed more than a ton and was 18 feet tall, had been in declining health since October, his caregivers said, when Craig himself was forced to leave Green Island due to ill health.

Cassius died in early November at the age of 110, and Craig died just two weeks later on November 17.

The crocodile and the former hunter developda bond that one crocodile expert said was ‘absolutely strange’. Cassius was often seen ‘shooting out of the water’ to greet his caretaker Craig.

Famed crocodile hunter George Craig (pictured) has died aged 94, just weeks after his beloved 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 5.5 meters long, had been in declining health since October, his carers 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, it wouldn’t have been a good sign for George. The relationship between the two was definitely strange. George would have to stay out of the window because Cassius would come running out of the water.”

“They were equals, they were friends,” said Alligator catcher Roger Matthews.

Craig was born in Peru on July 10, 1930 to English parents and served in London during the Second World War. A 500 pound bomb even landed in his street, but luckily it didn’t explode.

He later had a stint blowing up ordnance for the Royal Australian Air Force before deciding to become 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 to 1971.

But he later developed a deeper understanding of the beasts and opened a trading post with his wife to capture and keep live crocodiles instead of killing them, the Telegraph reports.

Craig moved his family, three monster crocodiles and thirty smaller juvenile animals to Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef, north of Queensland, in 1971 to set up Marineland Melanesia.

George Craig of Green Island Marineland Melanesia (pictured) feeds Cassius who has died aged 110

Cassius was captured in 1984 near a cattle station on the Finniss River, southwest of Darwin

Cassius was known to prowl the waterways of Australia before his lifetime before being brought to Marineland Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat

The park was a great success, which was further enhanced by the blockbuster Crocodile Dundee.

One of the biggest stars since 1987 is Cassius, who held the Guinness World Record as the world’s largest saltwater crocodile in captivity.

He took the title after the death of the Philippine crocodile Lolong in 2013, which was 6.17 m long, according to Guinness.

“He had big eyes that you could look into and see into his soul,” one of his former caregivers, Toody Scott, told AAP.

“He always had a spark about him, which is very different from working with other crocodiles.”

Scott said the crocodile had a particularly close bond with his keeper Craig and the pair sat quietly together for ‘hours at a time’.

Scott said: ‘For the last few years George has been getting around on a mobility scooter and every time he got near the fence Cassius would come to him.’

In a post on Facebook, his keepers said: ‘He was very old and it was believed he was older than a wild crocodile.

“Cassius will be greatly missed, but our love and memories of him will remain in our hearts forever.”

The group’s website said he had lived at the shelter since 1987 after being transported from the neighboring Northern Territory.

Crocodiles are an important part of the region’s tourism industry and Cassius became the top attraction.