Ten-foot alligator killed on Hwy 288 - alvinsun.net

24 August 2011

On August 14 at approximately 4:45 a.m., Pearland Police received a call regarding several individuals walking down State Highway 288 near County Road.

Upon investigation, officers discovered that the family’s vehicle had become disabled after hitting an alligator in the outside lane of State Highway 288.

Officers checked the area and found what appeared to be a 10-foot alligator dead on the side of the road.

Police called Animal Control to remove the animal.

The call does not name the family, describe the vehicle or say which direction they were traveling.

The above photos were taken by Pearland Police Officer C. Giron.

Jack's crocodile tears are real - www.scotsman.com

23 August 2011

INTREPID artist Jack Henderson has continued to meet the demands of his growing fans - although not without sacrifices.

The six-year-old scribbler, who has raised more than £23,000 for the Sick Kids by selling drawing requests online, was recently requested to draw a crocodile.

And according to his website, the drawing was not without its problems. Jack's dad Ed revealed: "The crocodile drawing scared Jack so much he is now afraid of crocodiles, had a nightmare about them and sleeps with his toy Dalek outside his bedroom door. We hope you appreciate the lengths the wee man has gone to!"

(I love his drawings and I love his spirit! I have donated to his cause before downloading these two beautiful crocodiles. Jenn)

Our Cassius could have been a star - ntnews.com.au

23 August 2011

Cassius is captured by Grahame Webb's team at the Finniss River in 1984. Picture: SUPPLIED

Does anyone have an occy-strap?

THE saltie at the centre of the Croc War between Darwin and Cairns was to have been a film star.

Cassius, named by the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest crocodile in captivity, was caught in a trap on the Finniss River in 1984 by Grahame Webb.

The plan was to use the 5.6m monster in a feature-length movie based on the zoologist's novel Numanwari, a thriller about a rogue croc.

But Cassius was never used and was sold to a north Queensland croc farm.

The Cairns Post announced that the giant was a world record holder under the headline: 'Suck it, NT!'

Dr Webb, who owns Darwin's Crocodylus Park research centre and zoo, said the Townsend pastoral family nominated Cassius for capture because he had taken to attacking fishing boats.

Then La Belle cattle station owner Hilton Graham built a special enclosure for the saltie.

"It's a shame Cassius was never needed by the film producer," Dr Webb said. "He was a magnificent croc - and must be huge by now."

Experts say the Territory will undoubtedly win the Croc War.

NT salties are far more buff than their scrawny Queensland cousins because they have been under less hunting pressure.

Croc shooting was banned in the Territory in 1971 but not in Queensland until three years later - and only then when the Federal Government refused to give export permits for trophies.

Illegal killing continued in north Queensland for many years - and reached a renewed frenzy after storekeeper Beryl Wruck was taken by a croc on the Daintree River in 1985.

Dr Webb said even Territory crocodiles were small compared with those in central Borneo.

"That's optimum croc country," he said.

He said 5m crocs were as rare in the wild as "seven foot men".

Wet blamed for fewer crocodile hatchlings - abc.net.au

23 August 2011

Wildlife experts say the record wet season has affected the crocodile hatchling population in the Top End.

Graham Webb from Crocodylus Park in Darwin says normally about 70 per cent of nests in the Northern Territory are flooded each wet season but probably all of them were lost this year.

He says high water levels at Adelaide River, south of Darwin, also stopped female crocodiles from nesting.

"Females that were due to nest just didn't nest because there was nowhere for them to do so," he said.

"So this year the numbers of hatchlings will be down.

"But because they take about 15 years to reach maturity, you won't even see the effect."

A man was saved from being attacked by a crocodile… - thestar.com.my

22 August 2011

A man was saved from being attacked by a crocodile when it was scared off by his wife who started swearing in shock due to her latah condition.

Wan Sahari Wan Ateng, 47, and his wife Saliah Jini, 47, were picking prawns out of their net on a raft at Sungai Paruh, Kuching, when a 6.5m-long crocodile grabbed his arm.

Wan Sahari said the sudden attack shocked his wife who then started to swear loudly as she would normally do due to the latah condition.

He said his wife's repeated swearing scared off the animal.

“I am very grateful to my wife's condition. Her condition helped save me from certain death,” he said.

Latah is a condition where, triggered by reflex, victims involuntarily go into hysterics with repetitive speech or movements.

Captive crocodile recognised as world's largest - thenews.com.pk

22 August 2011

SYDNEY: A crocodile which measures 18 feet in length has been officially recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest crocodile in captivity.

The fearsome croc, known as Cassius is a resident at Marineland Melanesia on Green Island off the coast of Cairns (northern Queensland, Australia). The crocodile, believed to be over 100 years old has been in captivity since it was brought to the marine park back in 1987, having been captured in the wild near to Darwin a few years earlier.

It was captured as it had attacked a number of boats in the Darwin area and it was thought to be too big and dangerous to be left at large.

Anger over shot croc - ntnews.com.au

21 August 2011

Jonathan Nadji with the dead croc. Pictures: SUPPLIED

A MUCH-LOVED giant crocodile has been killed - shot between the eyes at close range in Arnhem Land.

The 5.1m "boss croc" - known as the Black Crocodile - was "of high cultural importance", elder Goldie Blyth said.

Its home for at least 40 years was in and around the Murrkan, Murgenella and Wark billabongs on the Coburg Peninsula north-east of Darwin.

Ms Blyth said "this latest victim of new-age technology, avarice and intolerance" appears to have been "murdered" from the Murgenella Creek Crossing last Sunday.

The croc was found floating two days later.

"He (once) came up with a large barramundi, he threw the large fish around in his mouth as if to say, 'I got this barramundi' - waving it to us and showing us his catch; he then ate it front of us. It was a very special moment," Ms Blyth said.

"The crocodile's death is a very sad and a significant loss to traditional owners and the wider community.

"Cultural respects were paid on each visit to the site and the resident boss crocodile would seem to respond in kind, by showing itself and then swimming off to tend to its business. Traditional owners would regularly talk to the large crocodile.

"People had an enormous respect for the animal and the relationship goes back well over 40 years.

"On some occasions, people would talk to the crocodile before fishing or entering the water to hunt file snakes."

Ms Blyth called for signs to prevent stopping at the creek by "hoon shooting individuals". She has also called for Parks and Wildlife rangers to be reinstated at Murgenella - and wants the the culprit prosecuted.

Ms Blyth last visited the croc about three weeks ago.

"In recent times, the Black Crocodile did not like the sound of quad bikes and appeared to be agitated when he heard their sound," she said. "The crocodile was well-known to the old people and his killing is a loss of an important link to past generations that have passed on.

"The crocodile was always present or in close proximity to the crossing and was well known to both locals and some visitors."

Anyone with information about the shooting of the crocodile should contact Parks and Wildlife.