Australian authorities reported Tuesday that human remains were found inside a crocodile that attacked a man last Saturday while he was fishing in the Annan River in northwestern Australia.
Following this forensic discovery, Authorities have suspended the search and rescue operation launched shortly after it was reported that this tourist disappeared after falling from a bridge into the waters of this river populated by crocodiles.according to a statement released today by the Queensland State Police.
“A formal identification process is underway but the remains are believed to be those of a 40-year-old man who went missing in New South Wales (south of Queensland)”the statement said.
The discovery of the human remains came after Queensland authorities reported the day before that they had euthanized a 16-foot crocodile captured in a creek near the site of the attack.
The incident comes less than a month after authorities in the Northern Territory, which borders Queensland, euthanized a crocodile that killed a 12-year-old girl who was swimming in a crocodile-infested stream in the Palumpa (Nganmarriyanga) Aboriginal community, about 221 miles southwest of Darwin.
Estuarine crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), like sharks, are two feared animals known for their sporadic attacks on humans, some of them fatal.
These reptiles are predators that usually ambush their prey while they wait stealthily and patiently, often going unnoticed, on the shores of rivers, lakes, beaches and other aquatic environments in the so-called ‘Crocodile Country’, which includes the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Estuarine crocodiles in Australia, animals that can measure up to six metres, are abundant in the tropical region of northern Australia after being declared a protected species in 1971, when there were about 3,000 wild specimens due to indiscriminate hunting.
These protective measures have enabled the estuarine crocodile population in the Northern Territory to recover to around 100,000 in the current decade.