TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN (Australia) 05 December 06 Croc has last laugh ... again
Townsville's beaches were reopened to swimmers yesterday after a crafty crocodile eluded wildlife officers again.
The beaches were declared safe for swimmers after an extensive night-time spotlight search and early morning patrols failed to find any sign of the reptile.
The beaches were closed on Saturday after two locals reported seeing a crocodile swimming near the Gregory St headland at The Strand about 4pm.
The Rockpool was overflowing with swimmers on Sunday as all beaches from the Strand to Pallarenda remained closed.
But lifesavers reopened the beach yesterday.
Lifesaving Services co-ordinator Liam Drake said lifesavers had reopened the stinger enclosures to swimmers on advice from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
The beach has been opened and closed numerous times in the last six weeks following the crocodile sightings.
Mr Drake made no apologies and said lifesavers would continue to put swimmers' safety first.
He said closing the beach was a necessary precaution to protect swimmers if a crocodile was suspected to be in the area.
"As a safety precaution to the swimming public, we will continue with automatic closure to the beaches following suspected sightings," he said.
"We will close the beach first and then investigate."
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service manager of conservation services Mark Read said officers had found no trace of the reptile during extensive searches.
"We did a search at night in areas from along The Strand and Rowes Bay to Pallarenda and found nothing," Dr Read said.
A crocodile trap was set in the water off Rowes Bay for several weeks following sightings last month.
But the rogue reptile would not take the chicken bait and the trap was removed about two weeks ago. Dr Read said there was no plan to lay a trap for the rogue reptile following the latest sighting.
He said QPWS officers would look at a crocodile management plan for the area if sightings continued.
He said if a problem crocodile was found to be stalking the area, harpooning the creature may be a more plausible option.
Dr Read said the painless process involved harpooning the creature and reeling it in, where it would later be sold to a licensed crocodile handler.
He said harpooning crocodiles was common and one had been removed from Rollingstone using that process in 2002.
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TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN (Australia) 04 December 06 City's croc roams again (Lendl Ryan)
Townsville's rogue crocodile raised his ugly head for a sixth time in as many weeks over the weekend and experts warn there may be more visits from the reptile to come.
Between 3.30pm and 4pm on Saturday two local residents having lunch on The Strand spotted the animal off the Gregory St Headland near the C Bar restaurant.
As it was the case after previous sightings, beaches along The Strand and up to Pallarenda were immediately closed, while warning signs were erected and lifeguards launched what was to be a fruitless search that evening.
They continued the hunt yesterday, but also had no success.
Late last night Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service launched a spotlight search for the animal.
The results of the search will determine how long the beaches remain closed.
Manager of conservation services Mark Read warned residents there may be similar incidents to come.
"To see crocodiles off the coast of Townsville or Cairns or off anywhere in North Queensland doesn't surprise me because we live in a crocodile habitat and swimming up the coast is part of their normal behaviour," he said.
"It needs to be reinforced that we are actually living in a crocodile habitat and we need to be croc-wise in croc country.
"They are very common where we are and because we are truly into their breeding season they are more active.
"And we definitely know that there is a population of crocodiles in Cleveland Bay and the Bohle River."
Dr Read said there may be crocodile sightings well into the new year.
"Once we start getting wet up here it makes the crocodiles move around so we could get sightings well into the wet season," he said.
"With the increase in both water temperature and air temperatures the crocodiles will start to be more mobile.
"They usually start moving in late October and run through the end of December and into January."
Although searches so far have proved fruitless, lifesaving services co-ordinator Liam Drake said the residents who reported the sighting were positive they saw a crocodile and therefore proper procedures were followed.
A fourth search for the animal is expected to be conducted by lifeguards this morning.
Mr Drake said the results of the spotlight search and today's search will determine if and when beaches along The Strand and up to Pallarenda will be reopened.
"Our intention is to continually liaise with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services while we monitor the situation," he said.
Mr Drake said at this stage he couldn't predict when the beaches may be reopened.
"Well take each day as it comes and we'll talk to Parks and Wildlife," he said.
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