Man mauled by crocodile at Queensland boat ramp
A man has escaped with his life after a “big” crocodile lunged at him while he stood on a boat-ramp in Far North Queensland.
The 37-year-old had taken his dog to Bloomfield River for a drink, about 60 kilometres south of Cooktown, when the croc made its move on Wednesday evening, as reported by The Courier Mail.
Latching onto the man’s lower leg, the reptile tried to pull him back into the water, which is notorious for crocodiles.
“The croc grabbed the man by the leg and dragged him in but he managed to get away from its grip and the dog also got away,” General manager of the Jabalbina Aboriginal community Josh Paterson told the publication.
A local ranger, who watched the entire ordeal unfold, jumped into action.
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“She could see there was someone in distress at the river and it was really lucky cause we had just finished our first aid training,” Mr Paterson said. “She is obviously pretty shook up about the whole thing.”
The man was rushed to Wujal Wujal clinic for treatment before he was airlifted to Cairns in a stable condition with a serious leg injury.
Meanwhile there are conflicting reports that the man's dog may have been killed in the attack. The Queensland Department of Environment and Sciences told Yahoo News Australia on Thursday morning that its officers were currently on the way to the scene to investigate.
Attack follows croc sightings
The attack comes more than a month after a warning was issued about a croc being seen in the area.
“The boat ramp where the man was attacked was downstream to where we saw the croc, so I don’t know if it’s the croc people have been complaining about,” Mr Paterson said.
A video posted to Facebook on January 31 shows a large crocodile in the area of the boat ramp.
"See that croc everyone," the man who filmed the video can be heard saying. "Beware of your children ... because he is hanging around here."
Meanwhile a large croc was shot dead in Mackay last week after swimmers were forced to flee for safety after spotting the almost four-metre long beast. A fisherman also claimed he was “aggressively stalked” by the creature and forced to throw rocks at it to drive it away.
“Wildlife officers assessed the animal as posing an unacceptable danger to the community and made the decision to humanely euthanise the crocodile on the spot,” the Queensland Department of Environment and Science said.
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