THE behaviour of a large resident crocodile living in the Haughton River continues to baffle wildlife officers as they try to determine if the animal is a threat or just a tad shy.
But Burdekin MP Dale Last says the 5m croc, known as Cuddlepie by locals, should be removed regardless.
In late 2014, rangers in Giru began hearing about the not-so-cuddly croc before seeing it with their own eyes.
A Department of Environment and Heritage Protection spokeswoman confirmed that officers were monitoring the boat ramp in the Haughton.
“There is a large crocodile in the area and wildlife officers have been studying its behaviour, which to date has been very shy around people,” the spokeswoman said.
“The presence of a crocodile was reported to EHP in late 2015 and wildlife officers conducted a site assessment which indicated that a crocodile had been in the area.
“On the information available, EHP is unable to say whether this is the same animal as previously sighted in the area.”
Officers confirmed the animal’s presence on October 23, while other unconfirmed reports were made on June 24, October 20 and November 13.
The EHP spokeswoman said the recently sighted animal was not persisting around the boat ramp in a way which led to the removal of a 4.2m crocodile in April 2014 after that animal was seen chasing a female.
“Trapping efforts had been suspended while wildlife officers monitor the crocodile’s behaviour,” she said.
Mr Last said that given the size of the animal and its frequent location near the busy boat ramp, he believed EHP should consider redeploying traps immediately.
“We are not talking about a cuddly toy and it’s actually quite scary because I have stood on that boat ramp with my kids fishing but I won’t be doing that again,” he said.
“The potential for something serious to happen is quite high.
“I would hate to see an incident when an innocent victim or child was taken down there because people didn’t realise it was there.”THE behaviour of a large resident crocodile living in the Haughton River continues to baffle wildlife officers as they try to determine if the animal is a threat or just a tad shy.
But Burdekin MP Dale Last says the 5m croc, known as Cuddlepie by locals, should be removed regardless.
In late 2014, rangers in Giru began hearing about the not-so-cuddly croc before seeing it with their own eyes.
A Department of Environment and Heritage Protection spokeswoman confirmed that officers were monitoring the boat ramp in the Haughton.
“There is a large crocodile in the area and wildlife officers have been studying its behaviour, which to date has been very shy around people,” the spokeswoman said.
“The presence of a crocodile was reported to EHP in late 2015 and wildlife officers conducted a site assessment which indicated that a crocodile had been in the area.
“On the information available, EHP is unable to say whether this is the same animal as previously sighted in the area.”
Officers confirmed the animal’s presence on October 23, while other unconfirmed reports were made on June 24, October 20 and November 13.
The EHP spokeswoman said the recently sighted animal was not persisting around the boat ramp in a way which led to the removal of a 4.2m crocodile in April 2014 after that animal was seen chasing a female.
“Trapping efforts had been suspended while wildlife officers monitor the crocodile’s behaviour,” she said.
Mr Last said that given the size of the animal and its frequent location near the busy boat ramp, he believed EHP should consider redeploying traps immediately.
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