SYDNEY, Jan 18 \u2014 A shark mauled a boy swimming in Sydney Harbour today, leaving him in a critical condition with serious leg injuries, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The predator bit the boy, believed to be about 13 years old, during the late afternoon off Shark Beach, New South Wales state police said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe injuries are consistent with what is believed to have been a large shark,\u201d police said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Officers pulled the boy from the water off the harbour beach within minutes of being alerted to the incident, police said.<\/p>\n
They gave the boy first aid for \u201cserious\u201d leg injuries while he was aboard a police boat, applying two medical tourniquets.<\/p>\n
Paramedics transported him to Sydney Children\u2019s Hospital, where he was said to be in a critical condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwimmers are advised to avoid entering nearby waters at this time,\u201d police said.<\/p>\n
Shark Beach, in Sydney\u2019s eastern suburb of Vaucluse, was closed and police evacuated nearby beaches in the harbour, the state government said.<\/p>\n
Wildlife experts were working to identify the shark species involved, it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a tragic shark attack on a young boy having a swim on a Sunday afternoon near a harbour beach in Sydney\u2019s east,\u201d New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur thoughts are with the young boy and his family. I understand there were also other young people with him at the time of the attack, our thoughts are also with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been more than 1,280 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, of which more than 250 resulted in death, according to a database of the predators\u2019 encounters with humans.<\/p>\n
Increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures that appear to be swaying sharks\u2019 migratory patterns may be contributing to a rise in attacks despite overfishing depleting some species, scientists say.<\/p>\n
A great white shark mauled surfer Mercury Psillakis to death at a popular northern Sydney ocean beach in September.<\/p>\n
Two months later, a bull shark killed a woman swimming off a remote beach north of Sydney. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n
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