Sweetheart at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

Sweetheart was the name given to a 5.1 m (17 ft) male saltwater crocodile which Northern Territory folk legend claims was responsible for a series of attacks on boats in Australia in the 1970s.

History

Sweetheart first rose to prominence around 1974 and was dubbed by locals as the "heavyweight champion" of Sweets Billabong - where he gets his name - in the Northern Territory's Finniss River, south west of Darwin.[1] He frequently attacked outboard motors, dinghies, and fishing boats, but there is no known case of his attacking humans.[2] In July, 1979 Sweetheart was finally caught alive by a team from the Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission due to fears for human safety, but died while being transported when he became tangled with a log.[3] The cause of death was later attributed to drowning, probably due to the administration of the muscle relaxant Flaxedil.[4]

The crocodile's mounted body was prepared for an Australian tour by Ian Archibald[4] and eventually placed on permanent display at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.[5] The story of Sweetheart was interpreted with considerable artistic licence by filmmaker Greg McLean in his 2007 creature feature Rogue, starring Radha Mitchell and Michael Vartan.[6] Sweetheart's dimensions were expanded by two metres in the film, which saw Academy Award-winning creature designer John Cox[7] win an AFI Award for his construction of the crocodile used on screen.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "'Sweetheart' - The Northern Territory's iconic croc". www.9news.com.au. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  2. ↑ "Sweetheart the crocodile celebrates 40 years of being captured". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  3. ↑ Stringer, Col (1986). The Saga of Sweetheart: The frightening but true story of the Giant Rogue Crocodile who attacked over 15 boats on a N.T. River during the 1970s. Casuarina, N.T.: Adventure Publications. ISBN 0959089632.
  4. 1 2 Terzon, Emilia (4 August 2016). "How Darwin's iconic five-metre croc Sweetheart got stuffed". ABC News.
  5. ↑ "Sweetheart, Museum Icon". Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Turney, Drew (13 July 2007). "Greg McLean for "Rogue"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "Babe" winning the Oscar® for Visual Effects, retrieved 5 January 2023
  8. ↑ Mitchell, Jim (10 November 2017). "Dark Waters: The Making Of Rogue". FilmInk. Retrieved 5 January 2023.


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