'Be aware': Crocodile attacks 65-year-old man sleeping on the beach
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA: A 65-year-old man was attacked by a crocodile in Far North Queensland but has since been released from the hospital. According to a spokesperson for Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, the incident happened on Newell Beach.
The man was sleeping on the sand when he was bitten on the foot, after which he was taken to the Mossman hospital for treatment. A Department of Environment and Science (DES) spokesperson said they were investigating the incident.
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'Be aware...'
"Wildlife officers [will be] attending the Newell Beach region to confirm if a crocodile is in the area," DES spokesperson said. "The man has not notified DES about the possible incident." The spokesperson also emphasized the importance of reporting all crocodile sightings as soon as possible and urged people who live in those areas to take appropriate precautions. "Be aware crocs also swim in the ocean and be extra cautious around water at night," they said. "Camp at least 50 metres from the edge of the water."
In a similar incident reported by MEAWW, wildlife authorities euthanized a 4.2-meter crocodile in Far North Queensland after it attacked a man and ate his dog. Video footage obtained by ABC shows a crocodile abruptly leaping out of the water and biting off a significant portion of the man's leg before latching onto his dog. The said crocodile was later found about 200 meters from the boat ramp. The boat ramp is situated in a place where wildlife officers euthanize crocodiles that are believed to be a danger to the community.
'I would've expected him to know better'
Officers discovered the dog's remains while doing a necropsy on the crocodile. "(The dog) was inside that crocodile," said Michael Joyce, Department of Environment and Science Incident Controller. According to Joyce, the man should have been aware of the dangers because he had "come from croc territory to croc country." "I would've expected him to know better," he said. "If you go into croc territory and try to go swimming in somewhere like the Bloomfield, and the crocodile then associates humans with a food source, that's going to change that crocodile's behavior." Joyce said the need to shoot the crocodile was "really disappointing for all of us" and claimed that wildlife officers underwent training in order to guarantee that reptiles were put to death "as (humanely) as possible."