28 Facts About Rod Ansell

Rodney William Ansell was an Australian cattle grazier and a buffalo hunter.

Rod Ansell then moved to the Northern Territory at the age of 15.

In May 1977, shortly after completing a buffalo catching job in Kununurra, Western Australia, Rod Ansell decided to travel to the Victoria River on what he claimed was a fishing trip.

Rod Ansell was not specific about his plans, only telling his then-girlfriend Lorraine he would be back in a few months.

When Rod Ansell's motorboat was capsized and sunk by "something big", no one knew where to find him.

Rod Ansell managed to board his tender, a small dinghy with only a single oar, and retrieve his two 8-week-old bull terriers and a small amount of equipment.

Rod Ansell subsisted on wild cattle and buffalo, hunting by day to feed himself and his dogs.

Rod Ansell sometimes resorted to drinking cattle blood as a substitute for water, the fluids helping to maintain his body's electrolyte balance.

Rod Ansell was able to follow bees to their hive to retrieve honey.

Rod Ansell never counted on being rescued; he had told others he would be away for months, and any search parties would be combing over the Victoria River, not the Fitzmaurice.

Rod Ansell rested his hope on walking overland to a pastoral station when the wet season began.

One day, Rod Ansell heard the distinctive tinkling of horse-bells, which drew him to two Aboriginal stockmen and their cattle manager, Luke McCall.

Rod Ansell later claimed the experience was hardly a big deal, explaining:.

In 1977, after becoming a sensation in the Australian media following his harrowing ordeal in the Outback, Rod Ansell met Joanne van Os, 22, a radio operator originally from Melbourne who was then working at the remote Aboriginal community of Wadeye.

In 1979, filmmaker Richard Oxenburgh asked Rod Ansell to relive his adventures in the documentary film To Fight the Wild, which the following year was published as a book.

Some believed it was a publicity stunt and others wondered why Rod Ansell did not follow the river downstream to the nearest town.

When Rod Ansell was asked in interviews what he was doing in the remote Australian wilderness by himself, he claimed he was on a fishing trip.

In 1981, Rod Ansell was invited to Sydney where he was interviewed by English journalist Michael Parkinson for his television program Parkinson.

An "unassuming achiever" who embodied "the spirit of the Territory", Rod Ansell was named Territorian of the Year in 1987 for helping to put Top End on the world map.

In 1985, Rod Ansell borrowed money and secured a pastoral lease in northern Arnhem Land.

Rod Ansell started up Melaleuca, a cattle station 140 kilometres east of Darwin, near Kakadu National Park, named after the Melaleuca paper bark trees which dot the landscape.

Rod Ansell had originally planned to capture and domesticate the animals, creating a pastoral herd that would have afforded his family a comfortable lifestyle.

Three neighbouring graziers were eventually awarded AUD$100,000 in government loans, but Rod Ansell was never compensated for his losses.

Rod Ansell was killed following a police shootout on 3 August 1999.

Rod Ansell ambushed veteran Sergeant Glen Anthony Huitson and his partner, rookie Constable Jamie O'Brien, with a shot from Rod Ansell's.

About five minutes into the fight, Rod Ansell was shot dead.

Rod Ansell was affected by a paranoid psychotic state which is typical of chronic amphetamine use.

Rod Ansell's funeral was attended by his sons and parents.