{"id":770478,"date":"2026-06-30T06:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T06:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/770478\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T06:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T06:16:12","slug":"suspected-saltwater-crocodile-takes-dog-at-flinders-river-near-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/770478\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected saltwater crocodile takes dog at Flinders River near Richmond"},"content":{"rendered":"

A suspected saltwater crocodile has been reported hundreds of kilometres upstream from its usual habitat after a dog was taken near Richmond, in what experts say would be a rare inland sighting if confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Richmond Shire Mayor John Wharton said he believed a crocodile took the dog while it was with its owner at the Croydon Road crossing, north of the township, on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Richmond is about 660 kilometres from Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria, where saltwater crocodiles are more commonly found.<\/p>\n

The Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation say it has received a report of a possible saltwater crocodile in the Flinders River and has launched an investigation. Warning signs will also be installed at the site as a precaution.<\/p>\n

A department spokesperson said the Flinders River was outside the normal range for saltwater crocodiles and that every reported sighting was thoroughly investigated.<\/p>\n

Zoologist Grahame Webb, from Darwin’s Crocodylus Park, said a saltwater crocodile travelling that far upstream would be uncommon, but not impossible.<\/p>\n

“That would seem unusual, especially if there’s no history of them ever seeing a croc up there, but it doesn’t mean it’s not possible,” Professor Webb said.<\/p>\n

He said there were still “a few ifs” that needed to be confirmed, including whether it was a saltwater crocodile and whether it was responsible for taking the dog.<\/p>\n

Cr Wharton said he believed the attack was consistent with the behaviour of a saltwater crocodile rather than the freshwater crocodiles commonly found in the area.<\/p>\n

“Freshwater crocs don’t do that, and there’s plenty of freshies in the river, and no-one’s ever concerned about the freshies,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So, it’s got to be a salty.”<\/p>\n

\"Richmond<\/p>\n

John Wharton reported the suspected saltwater crocodile after a dog was taken. (Supplied: John Wharton)<\/p>\n

Professor Webb said investigators should keep an open mind until more evidence was gathered.<\/p>\n

He said freshwater crocodiles became more territorial at this time of year and, while uncommon, larger freshwater crocodiles were capable of taking a dog.<\/p>\n

However, he said saltwater crocodiles were “renowned for taking dogs”.<\/p>\n

If the animal proved to be a saltwater crocodile, Professor Webb said recent floodwater could explain how it reached Richmond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The upstream movement of saltwater crocodiles is really unpredictable,” he said.<\/p>\n

“There are long-distance movements upstream, but it’s usually just the odd animal.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Bottom Crossing on the Flinders River is popular with swimmers, fishers and campers. (Supplied: John Wharton)<\/p>\n

Cr Wharton said recent flooding and high river levels may also have contributed.<\/p>\n

“Many years ago, we used to get sawfish up here on the Flinders,” he said.<\/p>\n

“These things run in big years.”<\/p>\n

The incident happened at the Bottom Crossing, a popular recreation spot on the Flinders River.<\/p>\n

Cr Wharton said a young woman had been chasing pigs with her dog when it entered the water.<\/p>\n

“There was a huge noise and splash and the dog was screaming and it was all over,” he said.<\/p>\n

The mayor said the council moved quickly to warn the community because the waterhole was regularly used by families.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Experts say a saltwater crocodile reaching Richmond would be an unusual inland sighting if confirmed. (Supplied: John Wharton)<\/p>\n

“I’ve just been walking down along the river here now and there’s little campfires and motorbike tracks and a lot of kids come down to go swimming,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got to pull them up straight away and it’s very dangerous.”<\/p>\n

Professor Webb urged people to stay out of the river until authorities determined what had happened.<\/p>\n

“If someone thinks it may be a saltwater crocodile, I wouldn’t be swimming in there until someone checked it out and found out what was going on,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A suspected saltwater crocodile has been reported hundreds of kilometres upstream from its usual habitat after a dog…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,37571,273567,273568,273566,100869,19603,273564,273565,149470,66,323],"class_list":["post-770478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-crocodile","tag-department-of-environment","tag-dog-taken-by-crocodile","tag-flinders-river","tag-freshwater","tag-queensland","tag-richmond-shire","tag-saltie","tag-saltwater-crocodile","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}