Brutus

Celebrity crocodile: Amazing pictures of Brutus the giant croc who became a mega-star after he was snapped eating a bull shark.


 * A 5.5m crocodile grabbed hold of a bull shark on Kakadu's Adelaide River, the moment was captured by a tourist


 * The photographs attracted international headlines, but this is not the first global attention for the 80-year-old croc


 * Photographs of Brutus jumping out of the water went viral in 2011.

By KATE LYONS and EMILY CRANE.

PUBLISHED: 06:22, 7 August 2014 | UPDATED: 08:08, 7 August 2014.

Brutus the crocodile has been a key attraction on river cruises in the Northern Territory for years, with many people calling up Adelaide River Cruises to see whether they'll get to see the famous beast

The 5.5-metre crocodile pictured with a bull shark between its jaws a few days ago has made international headlines and become a reptilian celebrity.

But this is not the first time the 80-year-old two-tonne beast called Brutus, has attracted international attention.

Photographs of him lifting his two-tonne frame out of the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory to gnaw at some kangaroo meat during a  'jumping crocodile' tour made headlines in 2011.

The giant crocodile is known on the river tours for his huge size and the fact that he is missing his right foreleg – believed to have been torn off in a fight with a shark.

'We get a lot of requests about Brutus,' said Harry Bowman from Adelaide River Cruises. 'We get many phone calls, are you the one who has Brutus? Have we got the right tour to see Brutus? You could say he's a local celebrity.'

'He's been with us for quite a few years, we can't guarantee that he'll come out at every cruise, but he makes appearances pretty regularly.'

Brutus's appeal, he says is his 'sheer size and the fact he's missing a leg.'

When tourists see him 'they're pretty awed', said Mr Bowman.

'It's pretty gobsmacking for them.

A lot of people who come on these cruises haven't seen a crocodile before.

To see them in the wild up so close, I think they're awed. It's like seeing a dinosaur really, that's what a lot of them say.'

The crocodile attracted international attention when pictures emerged of him eating a shark on Tuesday.

The photograph was snapped by Sydney man Andrew Paice who was on a cruise down Kakadu's Adelaide River on Tuesday with his partner Nikki and seven-year-old daughter Madison.

'The tour guide had Brutus jumping at some meat the first time we went past him.

Brutus is quite well known up here… he jumps really high for an old crocodile,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'We were near the end of the tour and we'd fed all of the crocodiles along the river.

We were on our way back to the jetty when we saw (the crocodile) had something in his mouth.'

The tour guide, Morgan from Adelaide River Cruises, backed the boat back just as Brutus the crocodile was on the river bank with the shark in its mouth.

'The shark was definitely alive... it was still wriggling. The crocodile slid back into the water and the shark started to flip around a bit. The the crocodile swam into the mangroves, I guess to protect his catch,' Mr Paice said.

'I never even thought about a crocodile catching a shark before. It was absolutely amazing to see. Everyone was astonished. I was amazed I even caught it on camera.'

Mr Paice, who lives in Sydney, is four months into a year long trip around Australia with his partner and daughter.

'There's some amazing sites to see up here.

To see the jumping crocodiles was pretty amazing but then to see this... I think it will be pretty hard to top,' he said.

They have already travelled through Queensland and are now part way through the Northern Territory, before they head down into Western Australia.

Brutus the killer crocodile is believed to be around 80 years old - and has a front leg missing which he is believed to have lost during a fight with a shark.

Gallery: