The couple were fishing in a northern Australian river notorious for the deadly predators when the attack happened.
Police say the saltwater crocodile struck when the 57-year-old victim, who has not been named, entered the Adelaide River to untangle his line.
Northern Territory Police duty superintendent
Jo Foley said the woman did not see her husband taken, but heard "a scream
and then turned around and saw a tail splashing in the water."
Police and wildlife officers found and shot a
crocodile - named after the late pop star, because he is half-albino - a few
hours after the attack on Monday afternoon.The man's body was recovered later in the evening.The Adelaide River has an abundance of crocodiles
The victim's wife alerted Tony Blums who runs
Adelaide River Queen Jumping Crocodile Cruises.
"She drove round to us and I called the
police. I told them the spot to go to."
He said the crocodile was well known because
of its distinctive colouring.
"It's very unusual to have an albino
croc," he said.
"It's sad they had to shoot him. I'm
always telling people not to go fishing because the sound of the fish splashing
attracts the crocs, who go and take a look and then lurk close by just under
the surface."
Rob Marchand, owner of Wallaroo Tours, which runs
Jumping Croc cruises across the river from where the man was taken, told
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: "Michael Jackson was one in a
million, and unfortunately being an albino would have been picked on by all the
others.
The body of the killer croc
is taken away from the scene
"The croc has only been doing what nature
intends it to do, and that's survive ...
if you're not going to look after yourself, you'll find yourself being
eaten."
Thousands of tourists flock to see the
crocodiles of Adelaide River each year.
The man was attacked near the Arnhem Highway
bridge near where cruise ships show sightseers crocodiles leaping from the
water to snatch chicken carcasses suspended from poles.
Police Superintendent Bob Harrison told ABC
that the guilty reptile had regularly leapt for chickens dangled from the
cruise ships and was well known to operators of the Spectacular Jumping
Crocodile Cruise.
The fatality is the first in Australia since
June, when a 15ft, 5in crocodile snatched a 62-year-old fisherman from his
dinghy on the South Alligator River in the Northern Territory.
A 12-year-old boy and 22-year old man were
also taken by crocodiles in separate attacks in the region earlier this year
Crocodile numbers have increased across
Australia's tropical north since the species was protected by federal law in
1971.
Skynews
Skynews
Animal too get albino
ReplyDeleteSad though.
ReplyDeleteThe situation is helpless what could the wife do?
ReplyDelete