Human remains found inside one of two crocodiles shot by police searching for missing man in Kakadu

Updated

Northern Territory police are examining human remains found inside a crocodile to see if they match the DNA of a man taken from his boat on Saturday.

The 62-year-old man was attacked while emptying a bucket over the side of the boat, at a billabong near a popular tourist spot in Kakadu National Park, south-east of Darwin.

It is understood the man's wife, son and daughter-in-law were with him at the time.

Police say the crocodile that took him was 4.7 metres long.

Sergeant Andrew Hocking says two crocodiles were shot and killed on Sunday, and human remains were discovered inside one of the animals.

He says the crocodile with the remains was located about 1.5 kilometres from where the man was taken.

"The remains have been taken for examination," he said.

"There are a number of statements to be taken from witnesses and a file will be prepared for the coroner."

Sergeant Hocking says the area where the man went missing has recently been reopened following the conclusion of the wet season.

"The difficulty [with the search] in this location is getting in large boats. We're only able to bring in small boats, but using the expertise of the Territory Parks and Wildlife staff, they managed to help us bring it to a conclusion," he said.

"Thankfully this was carried out and [the victim] recovered very, very quickly.

"[Searches] can be quite difficult and take a number of days sometimes before any resolution."

Attack unusual for time of year

Crocodile expert Graeme Webb says it is somewhat unusual for crocodiles to attack at this time of the year.

"Attacks usually occur in the warmer months of the year when the crocs are more active and they need more food, so it's unusual to have an attack like this at this time of year," he said.

"They are serious predators and people need to always treat them seriously."

Sergeant Hocking has urged visitors to exercise caution when visiting the area where, he says, there is "always a potential for crocodile attack".

"I encourage people to think carefully about their safety at all times," he said.

"The water is deep in this billabong ... a number of large crocodiles obviously frequent this area."

The incident follows the death of a 12-year-old boy in January who was attacked by a crocodile at the same national park.

Human remains were found near where the boy had been swimming with friends in a billabong west of Jabiru.

Another 12-year-old was bitten on the arm in the attack. He fought the animal off and survived and was treated for cuts to his arms.

Map: Crocodile attack Kakadu National Park

Topics: crocodile, animal-attacks, jabiru-0886, nt, darwin-0800

First posted