Locals fume over giant croc beheaded on idyllic Queensland beach
Queensland locals are fuming after a large “icon” crocodile was found beheaded and mutilated on a local beach.
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Locals in Far North Queensland have been left appalled by what is suspected to be a trophy killing of a crocodile on an idyllic local beach.
The beheaded four-meter giant was found last week on the remote Cow Bay Beach, about 30km north of Port Douglas in the Daintree Rainforest.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said staff were unable to determine the cause of death.
“The crocodile, which was missing its skull, was too decomposed to conduct a necropsy and was buried on Country,” it said.
Tom Chalmers Hayes, a crocodile photographer and conservationist, rushed to the area upon hearing of the dead animal.
He was visibly agitated and distressed in a series of furious videos posted to social media venting his frustration.
“This is f***ed – I can’t f***ing believe some people hey. (Look at) this poor c**t,” he said standing just meters from the slain croc.
“Sorry about my language but f***ing hell, this is such f***ing bulls**t.”
He said the croc, which some in the area had taken issue with, appeared to be shot and with its head cut off “for some sort of f***ing trophy”.
He described the timing as “odd” considering a spate of attacks in FNQ in recent months.
“I know there have been some people who don’t like this crocodile in this area for a while, but I just can’t imagine why anyone would actually take it upon themselves to kill him – It’s pretty disgusting.”
The suspected killing hit home for Mr Chalmers Hayes, a son of a conservationist, who took up croc photography and conservation as an escape from depression and alcoholism.
“I started getting into photography of crocodiles, and that sort of enhance my love for them even more because I was capturing that character as capturing their day to day,” he told news.com.au.
“I think the love for crocodiles has always been there. I mean, any eight-year-old boy will tell you they love dinosaurs, so it was sort of like a real thing a reignition of a boyhood thing.”
At the time of reporting, the DES have been unable to determine how the croc was killed.
“Wildlife officers cannot determine the cause of death,” a spokesman said.
The department spokesman said it was seeking public assistance to help figure out what occurred while warning of major penalties for deliberately harming crocodiles.
“It is unlawful to deliberately harm or kill crocodiles or be in possession of a deceased crocodile or parts of a deceased crocodile,” he said.
“The maximum penalty for the deliberate harm or killing of crocodiles in Queensland is $14375.00.”
Other locals said the croc had lived in a creek in the area for a long time and had been seen around the beach in recent weeks.
A local woman from the tiny seaside village told the Cairns Post on the weekend the crocodile has been “cruising that area” for roughly six weeks.
“I was horrified, maybe someone wanted to get rid of it, maybe it is a trophy-hunting hero act,” she said.
Another tour operator from the area said the prospect of a natural predator could almost certainly be rolled out.
“The head is really well attached, their head is used as a weapon when they fight, it’s very strong. There’s no damage no bite marks anywhere else on its body,” David White from Solar Whisper River Tours said.
Mr Chalmers Hayes told news.com.au that even if it had died of natural causes, he was certain it had still been “mutilated” post-mortem.
The animal’s death follows three reported serious, but non-fatal attacks in the area in recent months.
A man was hospitalised with leg injuries after being attacked by a crocodile while sleeping on Newell Beach just north of Port Douglas on the evening of April 4.
On April 8, a man in his 40s was bitten three times and was nearly drowned by a 4.5-metre crocodile before sticking his fingers in its eyes to make a miraculous escape at Archer Point, South of Cooktown.
But it was an incident on Bloomfield River which has sparked a major croc safety campaign from conservationists and local First Nations representatives to have tougher penalties introduced for people who put themselves in harms way around crocs.
In late February, Alister MacPhee, 37, survived a crocodile attack at Bloomfield River, 60km south of Cooktown.
His dog, Molly, wasn’t so lucky, being eaten by the reptile, which was also ultimately destroyed by the DES.
Mr MacPhee was filming himself when the attack occurred and was blasted by conservationists who accused him deliberately provoking the attack.
Among those is Bob Irwin, the father of the late ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin, who is worried recent videos posted online risk more copycat acts if authorities don’t clamp down on it.
Irwin, along with the Environmental Defenders Office and First Nations representatives from the area, has provided the Queensland Government with proposed changes to close the gap that stops authorities from prosecuting such behaviour.
Among their suggestions is creating an offence for recklessly using a crocodile habitat, giving more powers to the DES and introducing an aggravated offence with an increased penalty for recklessly using a crocodile habitat or disturbing a crocodile for the purposes of social media publication.
“The only way this is going to stop is when the departments enforce penalties for this intolerable behaviour,” Irwin previously told news.com.au.
Mr Chalmers Hayes agreed.
“The (Cow Bay) waterway has now been made more dangerous. It’s unpredictable. Everything’s been thrown out of balance,” he said.
“You’ve not got three-four large males with no territory coming in competing for this spot that’s dangerous as hell.”
Originally published as Locals fume over giant croc beheaded on idyllic Queensland beach
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