1 July 07
'Eric' was transported to the Central Coast tourist attraction 18 years ago after being relocated from the McArthur River in the Gulf country of the Northern Territory.

Reptile Park General Manager Mary Rayner said that Eric died at approximately 5.30PM on Saturday afternoon despite a marathon effort by staff and the Park's veterinarian, Dr Peter Nosworthy of Wyoming Veterinary Clinic.

Dr. Nosworthy feels confident that the systemic infection arose from a combination of Eric’s age, the loss of power to the Park during the long weekend storms, the continuing adverse weather conditions over the last 3 weeks which affected changes in Eric’s pool conditions.

Due to the size of Eric it was impossible for Dr Nosworthy to intensively care for him.

Dr Nosworthy had attended to Eric many times during the past 18 years, and performed a series of corrective surgical procedures to relieve problems associated with Eric's 'stump', his right hind leg which was bitten off by a rival crocodile during Eric's stopover at a Darwin crocodile farm.

Reptile Park owner Robyn Weigel issued a brief statement Saturday evening: "The management and staff are devastated by the loss of Eric, who was much much more than just a crocodile - he was a day-to-day part of our lives, and held with great affection in our community - and in fact, throughout Australia."