Burt, the giant crocodile that featured in hit Australian comedy Crocodile Dundee, has died.
Crocosaurus Cove, an aquarium and exhibition space in Darwin, Australia, where Burt was housed, announced the news on social media, saying that the crocodile “passed away peacefully” and was “estimated to be over 90 years old”.
Burt, a saltwater crocodile, was reported to be 5.1m (16ft 8in) in length and 700kg (110st) in weight and had been at Crocosaurus Cove since 2008. Named after movie star Burt Reynolds, he was captured from the Reynolds River in 1980 and subsequently found by film-makers at a crocodile farm, according to Crocosaurus Cove chief executive Penny Priest. In Crocodile Dundee, Burt features in a scene where American reporter Sue Charlton (played by Linda Kozlowski) is rescued by Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan) from a crocodile attack. While much of the sequence was shot using models, Priest said: “The scene … was actually filmed using the motions of Burt and him launching out of the water.”
Burt was also used as the model for visual effects for the 2007 killer-croc film Rogue, and in 2018 became Australia’s answer to Paul the octopus, correctly predicting the result of the World Cup final by opting to bite a French flag than a Croatian one with chicken pieces attached.
Crocosaurus Cove said that Burt’s “fiery temperament” meant that he was a “confirmed bachelor”. Priest added: “Burt was a force of nature, he was one of a kind and had a great personality.”
