NEED TO KNOW
Old Faithful, a giant crocodile made famous by the late Steve Irwin, has been relocated to the Australia Zoo from a Far North Queensland watering hole for public safety reasons
Traditional owners expressed they were “very upset” by the move and conservation groups emphasized that “a zoo is the wrong place for an animal”
Another advocacy group, CROC, alleged that the animal’s removal lacked “transparency” and “cultural authority”
Old Faithful, a crocodile made famous by the late Steve Irwin, has been relocated to Australia Zoo — but some people have objections.
On Nov. 3, the Australia Zoo shared a video — beginning with a clip of Irwin capturing Old Faithful on The Crocodile Hunter — announcing that, after the crocodile was deemed a “problem crocodile” in Far North Queensland, he has found a new home in Australia.
“It’s time we respect crocs’ homes and let them thrive undisturbed in their natural habitats,” the zoo wrote in the caption. “Avoiding them is simple, stay out of the water and away from the water’s edge, don’t leave food lying around the banks and you’ll never have a problem with a crocodile.”
The caption continued, “We couldn’t stand by and let him be sent to a crocodile farm… so we brought him to Australia Zoo to give the big guy a forever home. We know Steve would be over the moon that we could have him here, in the sanctuary that he built, safe and sound to live out the rest of his days! 🥹”
However, Alwyn Lyall, the Rinyirru (Lakefield) Aboriginal Corporation chair, told The Guardian that same day that he was “pissed off” to learn that such an “important and totemic” animal had been taken so far away from its original owners, who had also expressed they were “very upset.”
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“This crocodile comes from up here in Cape York. A zoo is the wrong place for that animal,” he told the outlet. “To remove him over the weekend without [any] notice or notification to us traditional owners, or anything – it’s like a thief in the night sort of rubbish?”
“We never gave the authority for that to happen,” Lyall continued, noting that there is a much closer facility in Babinda that would be more accessible to the original owners.
Australia Zoo/Instagram
Steve Irwin and Old Faithful on “The Crocodile Hunter”
To make matters worse, the Environmental Defenders Office – acting for advocacy group Community Representation of Crocodiles (CROC) had requested a statement of reasons for Old Faithful’s removal back in January.
According to the organization’s co-founder, Amanda French, the department had allegedly requested an extension but then simultaneously “fast-tracked the paperwork and transport logistics.” From her perspective, French expressed that their actions seemed like a “cover-up for mistakes” made in a removal that lacked “transparency” and “cultural authority.”
“It’s incredibly sad that a crocodile that survived decades in the wild — swimming enormous distances, feeding on whatever he wants, mating with whomever he wants — is now sentenced to a lifetime in [captivity] … for tourists’ [amusement],” French told The Guardian, emphasizing that the crocodile has just become “a great commercial opportunity” for the zoo.
PEOPLE reached out to Australia Zoo for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
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