An iconic 5m saltwater crocodile known by its missing tail tip has been horrifically discovered decapitated and entangled in a fishing net in a remote Far North Queensland community.<\/p>\n
The croc, affectionally referred to as ”Big John”, was found in Yarrabah Bay on Wednesday July 30, with its death sparking an investigation by Queensland wildlife authorities.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the Department of Environment and Tourism said possessing crocodile body parts, such as a skull, without a permit is illegal.<\/p>\n
The offence carries a maximum penalty of $37,552.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The department has urged anyone with information to contact authorities and can do so anonymously.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone with information can provide it anonymously by calling 1300 130 372 or by completing a wildlife complaint form via the DETSI website,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
The apex predator had been monitored by Gunggandji-Mandingalbay Yidinji (GMY) Rangers for over four years and was called the \u201cCrocodile Casanova of Buddbadoo\u201d as he was often seen enjoying the sun with three female crocs in the Buddabadoo (Yarrabah) creek system.<\/p>\n
A Gunggandji Aboriginal Corporation is believed to be assisting with the investigations into the croc’s death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for the corporation said the croc had not become entangled in an abandoned net.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can confirm the net wasn\u2019t a ghost net,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gunggandji Aboriginal Corporation is assisting DETSI with the investigations as Big John was located in Yarrabah Bay, which is monitored by the Gunggandji Land and Sea Rangers.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a heartbreaking social media post last week, Gunggandji Aboriginal Corporation wrote: \u201cWith heavy hearts, we share the loss of an ancient and iconic presence \u2014 Big John, the saltwater crocodile who has watched over Buddabadoo for many years”.<\/p>\n
\u201cBig John was more than a crocodile. He was a guardian of our waterways, a link to our ancestral knowledge, and a living reminder of why we protect and care for our land and sea country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWords can\u2019t express the sadness we feel at his passing,\u201d GAC added, sharing a poem about the crocodile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An iconic 5m saltwater crocodile known by its missing tail tip has been horrifically discovered decapitated and entangled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,72,11630,5315,22833,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-44746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cairns","11":"tag-crocodile","12":"tag-investigation","13":"tag-predator","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}