Massive crocodile dubbed the ‘Dominator’ spotted in the Northern Territory

THIS big guy has been dubbed ‘the Dominator’ and took some tourists off guard in the Northern Territory this week.

Saltwater crocodile Dominator leaps for his food on jumping croc tour on the Adelaide River. Picture: Hayley Sorensen

HE’S long been the Boss Croc on his stretch of the Northern Territory’s Adelaide River, but now Dominator has put his name forward as being the Top End’s most impressive jumping saltie.

Dominator — who measures somewhere between 5.5 and 6.1 metres — was snapped last week leaping out of the water almost as high as the canopy of an Adelaide River Cruises tour boat.

The ferocious saltie lives just down the river from his world-famous 5 metre rival, Brutus, who himself shot to fame performing a similar feat on the front page of the NT News in 2011 under the headline “Yes, it’s real”.

This is the Boss Croc’s other mate "Brutus". This picture was taken on the Adelaide River in 2011.

Brutus on the Adelaide River.

But the crocodiles’ rivalry goes beyond putting on a show for tourists, with some believing a blood feud has developed between the two dominant males.

At some point over the Wet Season, Brutus — who has long been missing his front right arm — sustained a large flesh wound which is yet to properly heal.

Regular visitors to the area believe only Dominator could be responsible for Brutus’s new battle scars, although Adelaide River Cruises co-owner Morgan Bowman believes it is more likely an outsider trying to muscle in to Brutus’s patch was responsible.

“Dominator doesn’t like him, that’s for sure, but we take care to keep them apart,” Mr Bowman said.

“He’s healing up well, but obviously it’s going to take time ... we’re very careful when we’re feeding him not to do anything that might make his injuries worse.”

He said the two crocs had learnt to steer clear of each other over the years and respected each others’ turf.

Mr Bowman said it had been a busy Dry Season so far with both crocs putting regularly defying gravity for the sake of piece of out-of-date meat.

“We (the crocs) close, but not too close,” he said.

“Tourists, that’s what people come up to see.”