QLD: Township menaced by croc after flood bungle mayor

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-1999
QLD: Township menaced by croc after flood bungle mayor

By Barbara Adam

BRISBANE, April 8 AAP - A Cape York mayor today recommended shooting a rogue four-metre
crocodile lurking in a popular town swimming hole for more than a year.

Cook Shire mayor Graham Elmes said it was only a matter of time before an alleged bungle by
wildlife rangers - which he said resulted in the croc being released in waterways near the
remote Cape York township of Laura - began costing lives.

Mr Elmes said rangers had captured the problem crocodile in Tully at the height of last
year's wet season and were trying to take it to Lakefield National Park when they got stuck in
floods 60km shy of their destination.

Stranded in Laura with the croc trussed up in the back of their truck, the rangers decided
to release the reptile into the Laura River to spare it any more stress, he said.

Mr Elmes said the croc had taken up residence in a deep waterhole near Olivale Station, a
popular swimming and fishing spot for locals.

"I don't know how we're going to keep the kids out of there, and there's always going to be
stock coming into the waterhole for water," Mr Elmes said.

Crocodiles are a protected species and it is illegal to harm them, so relocation is the
only option.

But Mr Elmes has recommended the reptile be shot on sight.

He said the rangers should have started trying to relocate the croc as soon as floodwaters
subsided last year, rather than leaving it to swim around waterways near a populated area for
12 months.

He said the croc's presence struck fear in the hearts of locals, because wading and
swimming across rivers was sometimes the only way of getting across during the wet season.

However, a spokesman for Environment Minister Ron Welford said the allegations made by Mr
Elmes were untrue.

"We've had an investigation and we've closed the books on it," he said.

The spokesman said wildlife rangers responsible for the relocation of the croc last year
denied releasing it near Laura.

Under a special rogue crocodile management program introduced last year, any rogue
crocodiles spotted near Laura would be removed when rivers subsided in coming months, he said.

The spokesman said anyone caught shooting a crocodile could be fined and jailed.

AAP bja/sd/pa

KEYWORD: CROCODILE

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