{"id":501046,"date":"2026-03-03T10:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/501046\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T10:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:41:08","slug":"crocodile-found-hundreds-of-miles-from-home-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/501046\/","title":{"rendered":"Crocodile found hundreds of miles from home in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 2 (UPI) — A rescue team from Australian Reptile Park successfully captured a freshwater crocodile found swimming hundreds of miles south of its usual range.<\/p>\n

Billy Collett, who led the rescue team, said he was shocked to hear a crocodile had been spotted in Ironbark Creek in Wallsend, New South Wales on Saturday.\n<\/p>\n

“We got a phone call from the police in Newcastle saying there was a croc on the loose behind Bunnings at Wallsend and I thought, you’ve got to be joking me,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.<\/a><\/p>\n

He said crocodiles are not found in the wild that far south, and the approaching colder temperatures would have likely put the animal’s life at risk.<\/p>\n

Rescuers were unable to locate the crocodile Saturday, but Collett was able to spot it<\/a> the next day.<\/p>\n

“It was a really long jump that I had to do … I just dove into the [water],” he said. “I had a head torch that had come off when I hit the water and just everything just went dark. I got a hand on him mid-body and yeah, I couldn’t believe it, I caught him.”\n<\/p>\n

Collett said the croc was most likely an escaped pet.<\/p>\n

“There’s no way he’s booked a flight from Darwin [in the Northern Territory] and come down and landed at Newcastle,” he said. “So he’s likely an escaped pet, whether that was legally housed or illegally housed.”<\/p>\n

The crocodile is being assessed by a veterinarian and officials will then determine where it will end up.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\t\t