buzz
Do you recognise this
iconic street pictured
in 1940 and 2015?
Clue: It’s in the heart
of Australia. Turn to
page 129 for the answer.THEN AND NOW
PHOTO CREDITS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: IMAGE COURTESY THE MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY; WIKIPEDIA; NORTHERN TERRITORY LIBRARY
H
E MIGHT BE long-dead and
well-stuffed, but Sweetheart is
a formidable sight. With giant
gaping jaws and a 5m-long body, his
lifelike appearance is testament to the
capabilities of skilled taxidermy.
Sweetheart is an NT icon and famed
as the largest stuffed saltwater crocodile
on display in Australia. But his reputa-
tion really begins in the 1970s, when
he was a wild croc with a nasty
reputation for terrorising boaties and
fishers. Back then he patrolled a
billabong south-west of Darwin called
Sweets Lookout – a popular fishing
spot and the source of his nickname.
Sweetheart took a dislike to dinghies
and became notorious for attackingA saltwater crocodile called Sweetheart
At the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
outboard motors – he was probably
defending his territory, because the
engine sound mimicked the rumbling
vocalisations of rival males.
In early 1979, after a couple of close
encounters during which dinghy
occupants were tipped overboard,
parks and wildlife authorities decided
Sweetheart should be relocated to a
nearby crocodile farm – not an easy
task with the hostile reptile weighing
in at an impressive 780kg. And so on
19 July that year, Sweetheart was
trapped and tranquillised. But sadly, as
he was being hauled ashore, he became
entangled in a sunken log and drowned.
At an estimated 50 years of age,
Sweetheart’s reign as top croc of thebillabong came to an untimely end –
but his second life as a museum
specimen began soon after.
Taxidermists at the Museum and
Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
completed the mammoth task of
preparing Sweetheart’s skin and
skeleton in September 1980. During
the tricky process they discovered
the remains of pigs, barramundi and
long-necked turtles in his stomach
but, thankfully, no humans.
After a year-long national tour,
Sweetheart returned to the NT where
he’s remained ever since. Four decades
on, visitors continue to marvel at this
remarkable animal, and the reputation
of another Darwin legend endures.Museum Treasure
May. June 29