TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN (Australia) 12 May 05 Runaway croc finally captured, destroyed
A saltwater crocodile removed from a woman's laundry and mistakenly released into a popular swimming hole has been destroyed by West Australian wildlife authorities.
The Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) was forced to set traps for the 1.8m reptile after police at Kununurra, in the far north of the state, set it free in picturesque Lily Creek Lagoon in March.
Lily Creek Lagoon is a popular spot for boating, walking and bird watching, with a caravan park and other accommodation located on its shores.
Kununurra police believed the saltwater croc was a less dangerous freshwater species when they took it from the woman's house to the lagoon.
The shocked woman had returned from a holiday late at night to find the taped-up crocodile in her laundry.
The animal had been caught by a friend of her son who was an authorised crocodile catcher. He had planned to take it to a nearby crocodile sanctuary the following day.
After learning of the officers' mistake, CALM issued warnings for children and dogs to avoid the lagoon area while the crocodile was at large.
Today, CALM wildlife officer Brad Rushforth said the officers had tracked the saltie to a dam wall 45km upstream from where it was released.
"It was actually inadvertently released about two months ago by members of the local constabulary thinking it was a fresh water crocodile when in fact was a saltwater crocodile," Mr Rushforth said.
"Lilly Creek Lagoon, Lake Kununurra and Lake Argyll, in fact, are crocodile management zones and we are obligated to make every attempt to remove any estuarine crocodile seen in those areas for public safety reasons.
"Once we found out that it had been released we set up a trapping program ... and it wasn't until about three weeks ago that we got word it had made its way up to the Lake Argyll dam wall about 45km away."
Mr Rushforth said the officers shot the animal last Thursday after confirming its size, sex and species all matched.
"We saw it nestled in amongst the weed bank and confirmed through binoculars it was the one we wanted," he said.
"Because of the location of where it was and the difficulty in trapping this animal in the past, we couldn't get close enough to harpoon it ... so we had to take the option of shooting it instead, which is unfortunate," he said.
The carcass has been donated to the Wyndham crocodile farm.
Runaway croc finally captured, destroyed