NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS (Australia) 21 August 03 Crocs stalk tourist havens (Rajiv Maharaj)
Rangers last night warned hungry crocodiles were still on the loose after a 400kg saltwater male was caught near a camping ground in Kakadu National Park.
Park officials said the discovery of the 3.9m saltie less than 200m from a popular tourist camp site at Jim Jim Falls was ``frightening''.
The animal was caught using buffalo meat as bait.
``We were looking for a much smaller animal _ about 2.2m _ and we find this thing,'' park manager Chris Haynes said last night.
``To find crocs this big upstream is not good, because sooner rather than later, they will run out of food and become lean and mean.
``It's a bad sign, because the animal was very close to where people are allowed to swim.
``This means the four other sightings could turn out to be much bigger animals.''
Park crocodile officer Garry Lindner said he could not believe his eyes after the animal was dragged ashore on Monday.
It had been dead (drowned) for some time.
``I thought it was a log, but when I stuck my harpoon into it and we pulled it up, it was like, `Jesus! This is huge' _ it's unbelievable,'' Mr Lindner said.
``It's the biggest croc I've seen in the Twin and Jim Jim Falls area and that's a situation which I find quite terrifying.
``These crocs will become very dangerous up in these areas, because there's not enough tucker. The longer they stay upstream away from the natural food-rich habitat, the nastier they get.
``They will quickly exhaust the food source and start looking for terrestrial species _ this is when humans start to look attractive.''
Mr Haynes said the 3m croc spotted at nearby Twin Falls earlier this year was still at large. ``He's still out there _ with three other crocs and whatever else we don't know about,'' he said.
Mr Haynes said he felt vindicated in his decision to close off Twin Falls and restrict access to some parts of Jim Jim following a spate of sightings.
``It's a decision that has caused lots of debate in the community, but when we find a 3.9m croc that we didn't know about next to where people are, I think it can be seen as the right decision.''
Crocs stalk tourist havens