Dog-Eating Crocodile Caught In Australia After Terrorizing Community For Weeks

A dog-eating crocodile was captured in Australia this week, ending a reign of terror that lasted for weeks as the giant reptile snatched pets from a nearby neighborhood.

The monster crocodile had been snatching and eating dogs in the Daly River community, prompting local wildlife officials to lay traps for the beast. This week they were able to catch the 14-foot saltwater crocodile, but that wasn’t the end of the ordeal.

The local Parks and Wildlife Crocodile Management team traveled to Naiuyu to get the animal out of the trap, which wasn’t exactly a simple task.

“We gave it some drugs, pulled it out of the trap and loaded it up on our skid trailer,” said Senior Ranger Tom Nichols.

The crocodile had been taking dogs from the neighborhood for weeks before it was caught, prompting people who lived there to keep a close watch on the children and keep them away from the river where the giant crocodile made its home.

Though the animal was feared in the community, Nichols said he had seen worse cases and fiercer animals.

“Some crocs are worse than others but he wasn’t too bad,” Nichols said.

The dog-eating crocodile caught this week has nothing on another group of crocs in Africa. In Zimbabwe, three members of the same family were killed by crocodiles, which killed a 3-year-old girl after already snatching her grandfather and uncle.

The killings sent shock through the community. Witness Margi Reno discussed the most recent attack, saying she was a few feet away from the young girl when she heard screaming.

“I was doing something some few meters from the river when I heard screams, before I lifted up my eyes and saw a big crocodile snatching Luba from the banks, where they were bathing.

I froze for a moment as my mind could not comprehend what I had seen, but then I recovered and rushed to Mawili, who seemed frozen to the spot.”

According to Times Live, officials have not yet recovered the body of the young girl killed by the crocodile.

After the giant, dog-eating crocodile was caught in Australia, Nichols said the team took it through the village to show the people exactly what had been terrorizing them for the past few weeks.

“We stopped in Adelaide River to wet him down and that gave the local kids, and adults too, a chance to see the croc and ask questions,” he said.

The dog-eating crocodile caught this week was the 58th removed from the area in the last year. The giant croc now lives at the Darwin Crocodile Farm at Noonamah.

[Image via NT News]