A young girl’s rare photo of a famous crocodile flashing his private parts has resurfaced and shocked the internet.
Axel the crocodile had a reputation of exposing himself to tourists visiting Crocosaurus Cove’s Cage of Death in Darwin in the Northern Territory.
Former photographer Mon Atkins shared a cheeky photo of the now deceased croc taken several years ago by a young tourist after coming across it in her camera.
‘Sorry if it’s a bit crude but it is nature, and to be honest, not a lot of people have been fortunate enough to see it,’ Ms Atkins posted online.
Axel the crocodile flashed a young girl who was swimming with her mother in the Crocosaurus Cove’s Cage of Death in Northern Territory several years ago
The 900kg, 5.1 metre croc named Axel (pictured) was known to expose himself to tourists
Ms Atkins said that Axel had exposed himself to a young girl who had been swimming in the tank with her mum a few years ago.
‘I was taking photos of Axel with the camera and stuff like that… and we got back and (the girl’s mum) was having a look at the packages after she’d done the Cage of Death,’ the former Crocosaurus Cove photographer told NT News.
‘She said, ‘my daughter got this photo and I don’t want it but you have it, you might need it’, and I’ve gone, ‘holy s**t’.
‘He would do it at the most inappropriate time and usually when there’s a group of kids or a group for a tour coming in.’
The young girl wasn’ the only one who saw more than they hoped.
Aiden Goode jumped into Crocosaurus Cove’s premier attraction back in 2018 but it wasn’t until he looked back at the photos did he realise Axel had become aroused.
‘I thought it was a cracker and that it was hilarious,’ he said.
‘It was awesome to get up close and personal (with the croc),’ he said.
After buying the photos, Mr Goode returned to Axel’s tank.
‘We went underneath in the tunnel to have a look but it looked like he tucked it away.’
Atkins shared the photo with bewildered members in the I Love Crocodiles Facebook group, which was inundated with comments.
‘Don’t know what I thought they’d look like, but I surely did not picture this,’ one member wrote.
‘Someone tell me this is photoshop,’ a second added.
‘Cock-o-dile Dundee,’ a third chimed in.
Other shocked viewers questioned Ms Atkins’s pride in sharing Axel’s glory.
‘What did you mean by ‘not a lot of people have been fortunate enough to see it’,’ someone asked.
‘Weird introduction to the group but hey, gotta keep on loving crocs,’ another said.
Axel reached his 90s before he sadly died from old age almost two years ago.
The massive crocodile (pictured) was an icon at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin
The 900kg, 5.1 metre long saltwater predator, who had appropriately been named ‘Big Boy’, swam next to tourists in the Cage of Death for years.
Axel getting randy out of mating season was an unnatural event, according to the Territory’s leading crocodile expert Grahame Webb
Mr Webb opened Crocodylus Park in 1994, where Axel was one of the site’s main attractions.
According to Mr Webb, Alex displaying his crown jewels was one of the first steps used between crocs during courtship.
‘It’s usually well and truly inside… it only comes out during mating, so I don’t know what he’s doing walking around with it hanging out,’ he told NT News.
Alex sadly passed away on October 22, 2021, after living well beyond the age of 90