Mystery surrounds Daintree croc’s fate

He’s a star attraction for any Daintree River tour but in recent weeks Scarface has been missing in action. Where could the 70-year-old croc be?

The disappearance of Scarface the crocodile, one of the Daintree River’s oldest and most popular residents, has generated concern from fans across the globe.

Scarface has been roaming the river upstream of the ferry for decades but tourism operator David White says he’s been a notably absent for weeks.

“We can identify crocodiles by their markings and Scarface is easy because he’s big and he’s got scars. So he’s pretty obvious,” Mr White said.

“My partner and I are very worried about him. We come out at night, sometimes after work with the spotlight, but we haven’t had any luck locating him.”

Tourism operators say it is unusual not to see Scarface the crocodile roaming the Daintree River.

One theory is that Scarface had been forced from his territory by younger male rivals but there have been no sightings of fighting crocodiles.

And while the 500kg beast is estimated to be about 70-years-old, Mr White is optimistic his old reptilian friend is still on the river somewhere.

“I’m still hopeful that he is … I’m sure he’s alive somewhere as long as there hasn’t been humans doing bad things,” he said.

“He just might have changed territory. He could have gone up the river or down the river or maybe to a different river and they do cruise up down the coast to find somewhere quiet to live out their retirement.”

Solar Whisper Wildlife and Crocodile Cruises have been providing regular reports on Scarface’s absence and company owner Mr White said the response had been overwhelming.

Scarface the crocodile hasn't been seen roaming the Daintree River since February.

“I take lots of photos and videos and we’ve got people following the story from Scandinavia to South America, North America and Canada, New Zealand and Israel. Lots of people following what’s going on and sending in messages from hope that he’s all right,” Mr White said.

“People are losing sleep over worrying about a really ‘nice’ old crocodile. He’s so friendly looking, he’s got hardly any teeth and he sits on the bank with his mouth open when he’s hot and it just doesn’t look dangerous.”

“I’ve been doing this (tour operator) for a long time and crocodiles all have different personalities. Some are a bit more aggressive than others and Scarface is a real gentleman.”

Originally published as Mystery surrounds Daintree croc’s fate