Commemorative sign to Arvīds Blūmentāls "Crocodile"
Memorial site

The Crocodile Monument is located in Dundaga, at the intersection of Talsu and Ernesta Dinzberga Streets. The two-tonne monument to Arvīds and other Kurzeme strongmen was erected in Dundaga in 1995. The sculptor is Oļegs Skarainis. An exhibition dedicated to Arvīds Blūmentāls is also located nearby in Dundaga Castle.

The "Crocodile", which sits on a pile of stones, tells the story of a Dundadz man's long journey after the Second World War and his sudden worldwide fame, becoming one of the prototypes of the modern world's adventurers. When Crocodile Dundee hit cinema screens in 1986, it quickly became a worldwide success. As people became interested in the characters depicted in the film, it became clear that such colourful characters could not be fictional! It soon became clear that the prototype for the main character was Australian - and that it was the Australian hunter Rodney Ansel, or the Latvian boy Arvīds Blūmentāls.

Arvīds Blūmentāls was born in 1925 in the home of Būdenu, Dundaga parish. During the Second World War he joined the 25th Abava Police Battalion - building positions in the north of Liepāja and taking part in anti-partisan operations in Ukraine. After the battalion was incorporated into the Latvian Legion, he took part in its battles and was wounded several times. During the fighting in the war, he ended up in Germany, where he escaped to American-controlled territory. After training at the Altferfrad Agricultural School, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in 1947 and took part in the first Indochina War, after which he moved to Australia in 1951 and began hunting in the rainforests of northern Queensland. He himself said he hunted between 10 000 and 40 000 crocodiles in his lifetime. When the Australian government banned the hunt, he moved to an opal mine in the town of Cumberpedie, got married and set up housekeeping in a mine cave, which he named 'Crocodile's Lair'. Arvydas Blumenthal died on 13 October 2006. During his lifetime, he was the subject of several documentaries, his home, the Crocodile's Nest, was the setting for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and he himself became a living legend.