Perhaps the world’s most famous reptile, Elvis the crocodile stunned visitors with his almighty strength when keepers gave the 4.75 metre crocodile a quarter of a cow for his milestone 57th birthday during the Elvis Show. The 500kg beast performed the world-famous “death-roll” and then charged at keepers to claim the rest of his cow. Elvis’ birthday has come just two weeks after his major dental operation. After Operations Manager, Billy Collett, noticed a problematic tooth showing signs of infection, the Reptiles team at the Park jumped into action to catch Elvis and perform a health-check on the tooth to ensure he stays fit and healthy. During the operation, not one, but three infected teeth were removed. Since the surgery, Elvis has been happily swimming around his enclosure and making the most of the sunshine by sunbaking on the grass. The Reptiles team have also been checking up on Elvis to make sure his jaw is healing nicely, and that there’s no signs of infection. After such an ordeal, Elvis deserves nothing short of the best, the best being a MASSIVE birthday treat in the form of a cow carcass! Staff watched in amazement as Elvis played a quick game of tug of war with three of the reptile keepers. To break apart a bite-sized piece, he performed a mighty death-roll to the gasps of onlookers and ripped apart the meat easily. The action did not stop there. Feeling the rush of capturing his prey, Elvis then was quick to chase the keepers from the yard who carried the remainder of the meat with them. The keepers scrambled out as quickly as they could with Elvis chomping right behind them. Commenting on the extremely dangerous activity, Head of Reptiles at the Australian Reptile Park, Jake Meney said, “It’s not easy playing tug-of-war with a half a tonne animal like Elvis! I always feel the burn in my arms in the days afterwards and since his birthday last year, he’s only gotten stronger.” Mr Collett stated, “While the operation was no easy task for the staff, vets or Elvis, it’s amazing to see that he was able to celebrate his birthday and chomp down on a massive piece of meat with ease. For us, that’s a perfect sign that Elvis’ jaw is healing up really nicely and that the removal of his teeth hasn’t affected his ability to hunt or eat.”
To start the New Year off with a bang, the celebrations did not stop there. The Park celebrated the monumental event throughout the entire New Year long weekend and three lucky visitors won the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to feed Elvis during their visit. “That was truly an experience that I will never forget. I can’t believe how strong he is. Feeding him even with a fence between us got my heart racing!” One winner exclaimed.
Elvis the crocodile acts as an ambassador for Saltwater crocodiles and one of the most popular animals at the Australian Reptile Park. By having such a large profile, he serves to provide people with a connection to saltwater crocodiles and educates his fans of the importance of saltwater crocodiles in the environment.
Saltwater crocodiles were once hunted to the brink of extinction in Australia but following their status to be legally protected in QLD, NT and WA, their numbers have made a full recovery and they are now listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
