There are worse things than 35ft crocodiles

I admire the late Steve Irwin, the Australian crocodilaphile who, coming from nowhere, contrived to make £2 million a year sporting with these ugly, dangerous and tremendous beasts, and was then killed by a miserable stingray. I say ‘ugly’ but that is a matter of opinion. I love drawing them more than any other creature except a rhino. Humanity has a long and mysterious history of crocodile-fancying. In Central America, in the region known as the Gran Chingui, Indian tribes in the deep pre-Columbian era seem to have worshipped them. They figure prominently in pottery as stands, handles, beaker-mouths and entire vessels. There is a whole range of ware known as the Alligator Group. No accounting for tastes, eh? It may be that crocs have been worshipped, as in ancient Egypt, for their size and power. Significantly, the first ruler to treat them as gods was a woman, Queen Sebeknofru.