Aurukun crocodile attack: Small Cape York town mourns loss of town ‘celebrity’ Waal Waal Yunkaporta
The tiny Queensland town of Aurukun is in mourning after a town “celebrity” known for his friendly nature was snatched from a river bank by a problem crocodile. Warning: Story contains photos of an Indigenous man who has died, published with permission.
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The Aurukun man who was tragically snatched and killed by a crocodile at a remote Far North Queensland river has been remembered as a “town celebrity” who was known and loved for his friendly nature.
In keeping with Wik culture, the Cairns Post will refer to the man as Waal Waal Yunkaporta.
The 60 year old went missing from the remote Indigenous community, 822km north-west of Cairns, on January 30 after heading out to the mouth of the Ward, Watson and Archer rivers to catch a feed of fish.
The next day a week-long search involving police, SES volunteers, aerial assets and wildlife rangers began.
Sadly, on February 8, human remains were located inside a 4.7m crocodile after the evasive animal was shot and killed in the Watson River.
Police Senior Sergeant Duane Amos spend two-and half-years living at Aurukun following a period of social unrest in the community in 2020.
During that time, he got to know Waal Waal Yunkaporta and the pair often shared a coffee at Kang Kang cafe.
“He was a bit of a celebrity,” he said.
“He was a happy-go-lucky kind of bloke that would greet everyone.
“All the service providers knew him, he was very social, everywhere you went Waal Waal Yunkaporta would be there.
“He was a social cat and he was always well looked after whenever there was unrest, he had free run of the community.
“It takes a village to raise a child and everyone looked after him, he was the ultimate peacemaker and he brought that sense of village back to people.
“And because he was so visible the whole community will notice his absence.”
Senior Sergeant Amos said the distinct dark-coloured crocodile frequented the Aurukun boat ramp and there had been ongoing problems with people feeding the animal.
“It just had no fear and always hung around there and he came up on the bank under the tree near the boat ramp at night and people would go and have a look at him,” he said.
“You just don’t know with that river system, I would hate to fall in.”
In 2019 the horrifying moment a dog owner’s pet was snatched from a river bank near the boat ramp was caught on video and more recently last year the Aurukun Shire Council posted a warning about a large crocodile spotted at the same boat ramp with a picture of the animal swimming in front of a “danger crocodiles” sign.
Owner of the Kang Kang Café Tim Jones said Waal Waal Yunkaporta was a regular at his shop and would often pick up rubbish in the street and place it in the bin.
In terms of being croc-wise, Mr Jones said the fisherman was extremely aware and would be the first to come into the shop and let people know a crocodile had been spotted at the landing near the boat ramp.
“So he knew to be careful and he knew the dangers,” he said.
“He was a lovely guy and I was devastated to hear the news, it was really sad.”
The family of Waal Waal Yunkaporta have been advised of the discovery inside the animal.
His sister Phyllis Yunkaporta, along with his entire extended family, was distraught by the news, Sen-Sgt Amos said.
“She is pretty devastated and she said she has had a lot of sleepless nights,” he said.
The now Cairns-based police officer said he felt a strong connection to Aurukun and his heart went out to the community that is now observing a period of mourning and sorry business.
“This is the longest people have gone without a serious crime or murder and this will throw them into sorry business, it’s not expected and sad for all the community,” he said.
Sen-Sgt Amos said king tides and heavy rain in the area at the time of the tragedy could have given the animal greater access to the river bank.
“You put humans near an apex predator, this can happen, he was (just) in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
In a statement the Department of the Environment condemned the feeding of crocodiles and the leaving fish frames, bait and animal carcasses at public locations in croc country due to the heightened risk of attacks.
“People in Croc Country need to behave responsibly to look after their community,” a spokesman said.
“That means never leaving any food source at public locations where crocodiles may be present.”
It is an offence to discard fish frames, bait and animal carcasses in a way that may attract crocodiles to boat ramps, jetties or landings. People can be issued with an on-the-spot fine of $483 or a maximum court-imposed fine of $6,452. People who deliberately disturb or feed crocodiles can be fined $2580, with the maximum court-imposed fine of $26,615.
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Originally published as Aurukun crocodile attack: Small Cape York town mourns loss of town ‘celebrity’ Waal Waal Yunkaporta
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