Featured Image Credit: REUTERS / llukee / Alamy
Topics: Australia, Animals, Steve Irwin
Joe Harker
Steve Irwin's father has called for greater protection for crocodiles after one was killed after eating a dog and injuring a man.
Alistair MacPhee was attacked in the water by a 4.2 metre crocodile in Bloomfield River, Far North Queensland, while he was there with his dog Molly.
Wildlife officers responding to the incident shot dead the crocodile and confirmed it was the one who had carried out the attack as the dog was later found in the crocodile's stomach.
Advert
The crocodile was shot on 23 February and Department of Environment and Science incident controller Michael Joyce confirmed they'd found dog remains inside the animal.
Joyce said the man involved in the incident had declined to speak to them but he 'would've expected him to know better' having 'come from croc country to croc country'.
He said the need to shoot the crocodile was 'really disappointing for all of us' and that wildlife officers had been trained to put the animals down as humanely as possible.
Bob Irwin, father of world famous 'crocodile hunter' Steve Irwin, has raised concerns about the level of protection for crocodiles since incidents like these often end with the animals being killed.
Along with a number of wildlife conservationists, he has said he is 'constantly upset' at incidents involving humans and crocs where 'the crocodile, of course, pays the ultimate price'.
Irwin argued for stronger deterrents to stop people from putting themselves in danger with crocodiles and coming to harm or requiring a croc to be put down for people's safety.
He pointed towards some of the other strict rules surrounding interacting with dangerous animals as a possible example to prevent more crocodiles from having to be shot in the future.
He told the ABC: "You cannot go within 100 metres of a humpback whale in the ocean, feed or make food available to dingoes on K'gari, swim in restricted areas at Babinda Boulders, or be caught feeding cassowaries from your picnic rug at Etty Bay.
"It is now an offence."
Joyce warned that people really needed to follow the warning signs around crocodiles because if they came to see humans as food their behaviour could change.
He said there were between 20,000 and 30,000 crocodiles in Queensland, while Australia's Northern Territory was home to over 100,000 of them.
He stressed that 'any water body can potentially have a crocodile in it' if you're in a 'croc country'.
The attack occurred at the Ayton boat ramp where there are warning signs alerting people to the dangers of crocodile attacks.
MacPhee said he had 'unfortunately learned the hard way' about the importance of being 'croc-wise in croc territory'.