A fisherman was killed as he attempted to free a snagged line on the Adelaide River, around 60km from Darwin.
The 57-year-old was attacked in front of his horrified wife at around 5.30pm on Monday.
The culprit was a rare 4.5m-long albino-headed crocodile named after the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.
The crocodile named Michael Jackson was shot dead on Monday evening
Police and rangers were able to recover the man’s body later that night and shot the crocodile, New.com.au reported.
“They acted appropriately to shoot him but it’s a real shame they had to do it,” Adam Britton, a crocodile researcher at Charles Darwin University told the Sydney Morning Herald.
He added: “He was a well-known, well-loved crocodile.”
Rob Marchand, owner of Wallaroo Tours, which runs Jumping Croc cruises across the river from where the man was taken, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “Michael Jackson was one in a million and unfortunately being an albino would have been picked on by all the others.
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“The croc has only been doing what nature intends it to do and that’s survive… if you’re not going to look after yourself, you’ll find yourself being eaten.”
The area is a popular tourist attraction, with tour boats regularly feeding the animals.