Stephanie Kirsop He didn’t believe his son when he called him to tell him that a crocodile was lurking in a stream near his house.
The family lives in the temperate coastal town of Newcastle, located 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) south of the Australian crocodile habitatin the tropical north.
Lionel Saunders, 12, and his friends had spotted the meter-long juvenile crocodile early Saturday afternoon. Authorities were initially skeptical of the discovery, but by Sunday night they had already captured the elusive reptile.
“My son recorded videos because he was trying to convince me that it was real and I didn’t believe him. It looked like a crocodile, but I told him no, it was a log”Kirsop explained on Tuesday.
“He called me a little later and said, ‘I’m very serious, Mom. You have to come here and take a look.'”Kirsop said. “The whole ride I thought it was going to be a trick. They’re going to laugh at me.”
I had no doubt it was a crocodile when it arrived.
“There is a small crocodile swimming in the stream where the local children go fishing and sometimes the children swim there. Wow.”Kirsop said.
He called a wildlife rescue service and was told that crocodiles did not live in the area. Kirsop sent his own photos and videos as proof.
Kirsop was referred to the Australian Reptile Park, which keeps its own crocodiles in a temperature-controlled environment.
Park director Billy Collett said he suspected the images could be fakes generated by artificial intelligence. But police confirmed there was a crocodile in Ironbark Creek.
“I was a little suspicious because we received a lot of calls. Nowadays, with artificial intelligence, it’s crazy”says Collett.
He recognized it as an Australian freshwater crocodile, or crocodylus johnstoni, a smaller and less dangerous species than saltwater crocodiles.
“They are capable of inflicting a serious injury”Collett said of the smaller species.
Collett’s team captured the crocodile on Sunday night 3 kilometers from where it was first seen.
“I just wanted to get him out of there because he would have perished in the winter.”Collett said. It is currently autumn in the southern hemisphere.
The alligator is healthy and will remain in the park until authorities decide where it should go permanently, Collett said. Crocodiles are protected under Australian law.