Wildlife rangers said Tuesday that they had trapped a 4.7-meter (15-foot) saltwater crocodile, the largest they had ever caught in the northern Australian Katherine River and in an upstream region popular with tourists that is thought relatively safe from the killer predators.
Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife said it had trapped the 600-kilogram (1,300-pound) reptile on Monday more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) from the ocean and only 30 kilometers (19 miles) downstream from Katherine Gorge, a major tourist attraction outside the Northern Territory town of Katherine.
Tourists swim, canoe and take cruises in the gorge among freshwater crocodiles, a different species that are small, timid and rarely harm humans. Mid-year is the peak tourist season.
Ranger John Burke said authorities had been hunting the large crocodile in the area for a decade.
"We've called it a lot of things over the years because it's been so hard to catch," Burke said.
In this Monday, July 9, 2018, photo provided by the Northern Territory Department of Tourism and Culture, a large crocodile is bound on a trailer after it was captured near Katherine, Australia. Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife said in a statement on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, it had trapped the 600-kilogram (1,300-pound) reptile only 30 kilometers (19 miles) downstream from Katherine Gorge, a major tourist attraction outside the Northern Territory town of Katherine. (NT Department of Tourism and Culture via AP)
"On record, this is the biggest saltwater crocodile removed from the Katherine management zone," he added, referring to the part of the river where saltwater crocs, a protected species, are trapped because they're too close to human populations.
Northern Territory-based crocodile expert Grahame Webb said saltwater crocs, also known as estuarine crocodiles, were heading farther upstream into fresh water river systems as their population has boomed since they were protected by federal law in 1971.
While large crocs are territorial, Webb suspected the trapped croc had moved to and from the area where it was caught during the past 10 years. Satellite tracking had shown one croc tagged in a Northern Territory waterhole had swum 900 kilometers (560 miles), for unknown reasons, before returning to the same place.
"That sort of croc, in my opinion, is the most dangerous to people," Webb said. "In areas where they're at best low densities, someone won't have seen one for a long, long time and they think they're safe and they're not necessarily safe."
Webb said the capture so close to tourists demonstrated that the government protection program worked.
"It's worrying, but it's good that they've got an active program and they've got active traps," Webb said.
In this Monday, July 9, 2018, photo provided by the Northern Territory Department of Tourism and Culture, a large crocodile is captured in a trap near Katherine, Australia. Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife said in a statement on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, it had trapped the 600-kilogram (1,300-pound) reptile only 30 kilometers (19 miles) downstream from Katherine Gorge, a major tourist attraction outside the Northern Territory town of Katherine. (NT Department of Tourism and Culture via AP)
The croc has been trucked to a crocodile farm outside Kathrine where it's likely to become a tourist attraction. Crocodiles are farmed for their meat and hides, but large and battle-scarred crocs are usually unsuitable for the handbag market.
Since crocodiles became a protected species, crocodile numbers in the Northern Territory have exploded from 3,000 to an estimated 80,000 to 100,000.
Because saltwater crocodiles can live up 70 years and grow throughout their lives, reaching up to 7 meters (23 feet), the proportion of large crocodiles is also rising.
SYDNEY (AP) — A 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics during a Sydney church service has been charged by police with terrorism offenses.
Authorities said the stabbing was declared a terrorist act because of the teenager’s suspected religious motivation and that the boy traveled up to 90 minutes from his home to the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Sydney's western suburbs.
The teen spoke in Arabic about the Prophet Muhammad being insulted after he stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Rev. Isaac Royel during Monday night’s Assyrian Orthodox service. He was later overpowered by parishioners, sustaining severe hand injuries.
“Yesterday investigators attended a medical facility to interview the alleged offender where he was charged with committing a terrorist act," said Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw at a press conference Friday in Sydney. The offense carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.
The matter was heard at a Sydney children’s court on Friday. The juvenile, who is not being named, did not appear via video link from his hospital bed and did not apply for bail at the brief hearing.
The teen has a history of knife-related offenses and had seen three psychologists and a school counselor, and had an appointment to see a psychiatrist, his lawyer said during Friday’s court hearing.
The boy’s family had previously said the 16-year-old might have “anger management and behavioral issues” and a “short fuse,” but had shown no signs of being radicalized.
The 16-year-old’s lawyer, Greg Scragg, said the boy had a “long history of behavior” consistent with a mental illness or intellectual disability.
The magistrate made a recommendation for the boy to have a mental health assessment while in custody. He will enter remand custody at a children’s detention center once released from the hospital, until his next court hearing on June 14.
A crowd of up to 600 people converged on the church after the attack, some demanding that police hand over the boy. Hours of rioting led to 51 police officers being injured. Sydney mosques also received firebomb threats.
The bishop released an audio statement Thursday saying that he was “doing fine, recovering very quickly” and that he forgave his attacker. He also used his statement to call for calm after the attack, which was Australia’s second high-profile knife attack in a week, after a man stabbed six people to death at a busy Sydney shopping center Saturday before he was fatally shot.
Regarding the church attack, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “Clearly this was a terrorism event,” and it had been disappointing to see the riots that followed.
“The response as well, I must say, as a Sydneysider, was very disappointing with police being attacked, they should be treated with respect at all times,” Albanese told radio station 3AW on Friday. “Our police do extraordinary work in order to keep us safe and they shouldn’t have been subject to the attacks that happened on that evening. And there have been charges done because of that as well.”
Police say they are continuing to hunt for as many as 50 people involved in the riot and expect to make more arrests in the coming days.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said extra police had been deployed to that part of western Sydney as part of a high-visibility operation “for as long as needed to reassure the community we are there to keep them safe."
Smith reported from Newcastle, Australia.
Police forensic officers inspect a car outside the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in suburban Wakely in western Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A car with its windscreen smashed, is parked outside the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in suburban Wakely in western Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A damaged car sits parked outside the Christ the Good Shepherd church in suburban Wakely in western Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Police patrol outside the Christ the Good Shepherd church in suburban Wakely in western Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism.(AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Security officers stand guard outside Orthodox Assyrian church in Sydney, Australia, Monday, April 15, 2024. Police in Australia say a man has been arrested after a bishop and churchgoers were stabbed in the church. There are no life-threatening injuries. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Flores sit on a fence outside the Christ the Good Shepherd church in suburban Wakely in western Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A man has been arrested after reportedly stabbing a Christian bishop and multiple churchgoers during a televised service in Sydney Monday, April 15, 2024, police said. There were no reports of life-threatening injuries. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
