Huge crocodile caught at Outback tourist destination
The crocodile is the biggest caught in the area in years, a wildlife ranger said.
Wildlife rangers have trapped a 14.5ft saltwater crocodile at a tourist destination in Australia’s Northern Territory.
The crocodile is the biggest caught in the area in years, a wildlife ranger said.
The 770lb male was caught in the Flora River at a remote nature park 75 miles south-west of the Outback town of Katherine, said Katherine senior wildlife ranger John Burke.
A larger 15.5ft crocodile was trapped three years ago in the same wildlife management zone, but that one was caught in the Katherine River, which is closer to the sea, Mr Burke said.
Crocodile numbers have been increasing across Australia’s tropical north since federal law made them a protected species in the early 1970s.
“They certainly are increasing (in number), and that’s part of the reason we have the management zones — to reduce the numbers in high-visitation areas so there’s less chance of interaction between salties and people,” Mr Burke said, referring to saltwater crocodiles.
