Australian Saltwater Crocodile

Oz Magic the Web-Site

Australian Saltwater Crocodile

Cannot be tamed and is ALWAYS dangerous

Australian Saltwater

Estuarine Crocodiles

Crocodylus porosus Information on crocodiles

They've been around for 65 million years, that's just the modern day crocodile. The first crocodiles were on earth 200 million years ago! They are big, carniverous and dangerous to the living animal. They are at the top of the food chain. Which means that we humans are high on the menu for these massive reptilians.

Opportunistic hunters, the Saltwater Crocodile will observe animals and then lie in wait under the water just inches from the bank waiting patiently for an opportunity to grab its prey.

Australian crocodiles are mainly found in salt water this crocodile is also frequently found living in fresh water. Information about crocodiles is fairly detailed here in Australia as they have been the subject of much study. Australia's history of crocodiles goes back a long way to before the white mans arrival.

Worst time:

All Year round

Warnings:

Refrain from swimming or fishing where warning signs are erected. Don't interfere with nesting grounds. If you happen to come across a basking crocodile retreat quietly towards land, do not place yourself between water and a crocodile.

Crocodiles ecology conservation

It wasn't long ago that crocodiles in Australia were endangered crocodiles. Hunted for their skins they were hard to find 40-50 years ago. They have been protected for some decades now and their numbers have increased dramatically. No-one is allowed to harm a crocodile in Australia, they enjoy a protected animal status. Huge fines and jail terms apply to anyone found harming our reptiles.

There has been much talk in Australia about culling the numbers as the crocodile is now quite a common sight on our northern waterways.

Just because they are big doesn't mean they are slow. Lightning fast in attack mode the Crocodile will wait until the perfect moment to seize its prey. They have also been known to stalk a campsite on land of nighttime.

Northern Australia plays host to these magnificent survivors from the prehistoric era and having been protected for decades now it is highly likely they will be in areas you intend to visit.

What do crocodiles eat ?

Just about anything they can get a hold of that is made of flesh and bone.

Fish, birds, snakes and anything that walks on two or four legs. A Crocodile will swim over to a floating object if its not sure what it is and give it a "test bite" to see if it is edible. They have been known to chew on kerosene tins and will eat large rocks to help with their digestion.

Crocodiles have amazing senses that allow them to hunt by stealth. An intersting fact about them is their eyesight is as good as ours is and even better under water. They have a transparent third eyelid that allows them to see well under water.

Their sense of hearing is acute and they actually have vibration receptors at the base of their teeth that allow them to sense the minutest vibration in the water. A crocodile may be under water not far from the bank and these receptors will pick up an animal such as a dog drinking at the water edge.

The Crocodile's strength is well recorded. A Crocodile will think nothing of attacking a fully-grown water buffalo, dragging it into the water, drowning it and then tearing pieces of the animal off by performing the "death roll". Most animals don't get a second chance if attacked by a Crocodile.

Giant Estaurine Crocodiles

Reports of Crocodiles over 20 feet (7 metres) in length have always been claimed although a Crocodile of this size is rarely seen. Lengths of up to 18 feet have been seen and documented, with 14-15-16 feet crocodiles being seen in most large river systems in Australia's north. Prehistoric crocodiles were much larger.

Where do Australian crocodiles live ?

The Australian crocodiles habitat ranges as far south as Gladstone in Queensland and sightings (although not proven) extend to Hervey Bay and Maryborough in the south. They can be found in the coastal river systems, coastal areas, some offshore islands and in some cases hundreds of kilometres from salt water. There are even rain forest crocodiles in creeks and rainforest rivers.

The wet season in the Northern Territory has in the past, allowed crocodiles to travel far inland. The wet seasons flood water recedes during the dry season leaving the crocodile stranded. This has in the past been much to the surprise of cattle station owners when they find a large crocodile in their dam eating their cattle.

In Australia's north Crocodiles are plentiful. A large 3.4 metre crocodile was run over by a train while laying on the railway line just south of Townsville on 27/04/2002.

In the Northern Territory they are plentiful and can be found in almost all coastal areas, rivers, creeks and billabongs. Crocodiles have been found crossing the Stuart highway and some misguided baby crocodiles were found in the car park of Palmerston shopping centre (a satellite city of Darwin). Hundreds of Crocodiles are removed from Darwin Harbour every year.

The Northern Territory Adelaide River is famous for it's jumping Crocodiles. Here the local Crocodiles have been trained to leap their entire body length vertically out of the water in order to grab meat being dangled from the side of a tourist boat.

The author of Oz Magic lived in Darwin for 11 years and owned a 14-foot fishing dinghy. He went fishing in the Adelaide River once and could not relax for the thought of a large Crocodile leaping into the boat so he chickened out, went home and never went on that river system again. Well not in his little boat anyway.

Western Australia also plays host to these giant reptiles with crocodiles recorded down past Broome.

Note: Crocodile is not spelt as crocadile, this is a common mistake.

Crocodile Farms:

Australia has many crocodile farms. Most are commercial ventures that breed man eating crocodiles for the crocodiles meat and skin. At these farms you can see crocodiles in water and out of the water. Feeding exhibitions with humans getting a lot closer to them than you would ever want to be.

If you want a picture of crocodiles from this site download one by right clicking the larger photos then save to your computer. It's a lot safer than trying to take your own salt water crocodiles picture, taking a photo of crocodiles here is a risky business, a pic of crocodiles in the wild could cost you you're life. It's easy to get a big toothy smile from them though. If you are not Steve Irwin you don't want to try to get a crocodiles photo.

Steve Irwin Dead 4th September 2006

click here for tribute page and pictures

Australia has lost it’s favourite son Steve Irwin in a rare and freak incident.

On the 4th of September 2006 Steve Irwin was killed by a Stingray barb which pierced his chest and possibly punctured his heart. Steve had been making a film documentary titled “Oceans Deadliest” at Batt Reef off the resort town of Port Douglas when the incident happened.

Steve decided shoot some film for a new tv show he was doing with his daughter Bindi, and with a cameraman went to Batt Reef to film a segment on Stingrays. He swam over a Stingray and the Stingrays barb went up and into his chest putting a hole in his heart.

Video footage of the tradgedy showed that Steve died almost instantly. Mr John Stainton said the footage showed that Steve pulled the Stingray Barb out of his chest and then he was gone.

Steve Irwin’s team responded quickly and got him back to his boat Croc 1 and then traveled to the Low Isles to meet an emergency team. CPR was constantly performed and but Steve Irwin was pronounced dead about 10 minutes later at 12.00pm by the emergency team.

A personal friend Mr John Stainton made the following statement.

"Today the world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dad's on the planet. He died doing what he loved best, he left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind, he would've said 'crocs rule'," he said.

Mr. Stainton believes that the poor weather experienced in the far north may have been, in part, the cause of Steve Irwin's death.

"One problem Steve had was that he couldn't sit still for five seconds and because the weather was bad today and for the last couple of days, he'd been like a caged lion because he hadn't really been able to do anything too much and he said 'look I might just go off and shoot some segments'... anything that would keep him moving and his adrenaline going and that's what happened... and the next thing I heard on the radio was that there was a medical emergency and the little dinghy was bringing him back with the crew... everyone tried absolutely tirelessly to revive him, to keep him alive."

Australia has much to thank Steve Irwin for. One of our greatest Australian icons if not the greatest, Steve Irwin showcased the Australian spirit to the world. His enthusiasm and passion for nature was well known.

His cheeky good humoured manner and use of the old Australian vernacular using words such as “strewth” and “crikey” (when the rest of Australia had all but forgotten these words), stirred the Australian pride. Steve once explained that he didn’t use these words for showmanship it was simply the way his family used to talk when he was being brought up.

Not satisfied with just talking about conservation Steve Irwin actively pursued conservation projects that would be of benefit to Australia, Australians and the world for generations to come. Steve had a dream of using the money he was making from royalties and his Australia Zoo to buy large tracts of wilderness land to create wilderness reserves that could never be bought by developers thereby creating a lasting environment for our wildlife.

As the news of his death spread it was met with shock. This author felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach. Having visited Australia Zoo I personally could see his passion at work. His zoo is unique and his presentation of the animals he has there was so passionate and sincere. You could see the genuine love for his animals.

What you saw on tv was not a showman, it was not fake. The way he presented himself was exactly the person he was. Many of us always thought that one day something would attack him and hurt him, a crocodile, a deadly snake perhaps a shark but not in our wildest dreams did we ever think a Stingray would take him out.

Steve is only the third person in Australia to ever be killed by a Stingray in recorded history.

Water Ski-ing on the Daintree River don't try it.

As a young man fresh from the northern suburbs of Sydney and new to Cairns the creator of Oz Magic did some very stupid things. Along with some other green Southerners he went water ski-ing on the Daintree River. This is the reason people are attacked and killed by Crocodiles. Had he have known of the danger he never would have set foot in the water. Luckily he survived and can now write about such stupidity.

Sweetheart the Crocodile

Crocodiles do not usually attack boats. Sweetheart the Crocodile was an exception to this rule. The attacks happened in Sweet's Lookout Billabong, a deep billabong in the Finniss River, the billabong is around 9 km long and 100m wide at the widest part.

The first attack occurred in 1974. Three people were fishing from a small boat at night when the crocodile surfaced, grabbed the outboard motor and shook the boat with great force.

One person fell out of the boat into the water but managed to get back into the boat. Terrified they started the engine, the crocodile then attacked the propeller.

In 1976, another attack occurred; again the crocodile damaged the outboard motor and also punctured the aluminium hull of the boat. In the same year, Sweetheart slammed into a fishing boat from underneath, turning it around before surfacing beside it.

In 1978 Sweetheart attacked a boat at its mooring, damaging the outboard engine. That same year he sank a fishing boat and continued to attack.

The author of Oz Magic has heard two versions of how Sweetheart met his death and now presents both of them to you.. I tend to believe the first one as it is unusual for a crocodile to attack a boat and the bullet may explain Sweethearts behaviour if he had initially been shot from a boat.

Ending One:

Authorities tried to trap Sweetheart and unfortunately no one was around when Sweetheart became entangled in the set trap, and he drowned.

An autopsy was performed and a bullet was found to be lodged in Sweethearts spine, this may explain why he attacked boats. Perhaps he was shot from a boat and related ongoing pain to the sight of a boat after the incident.

Ending Two:

Sweetheart was finally caught in July 1979, but died soon after capture.

However he died. Sweethearts body and skeleton can now be seen at the Darwin Museum where he is permanently on display and a book on his story "The Saga of Sweetheart", written by Colin Stringer can be purchased in Darwin. The Darwin Museum is well worth a visit if you are in Darwin; they have some great exhibits including Box Jellyfish and live Barramundi.

Common Sense and Local Knowledge

Crocodile attacks while not frequent, do happen. Usually the person concerned has put himself or herself at risk by entering the water the Crocodile frequents. Common sense and asking local authorities before taking such a risk can go a long way to saving yourself from a terrifying death. Injuries to people who are lucky enough to survive an attack are horrific and severe.

There are always safe swimming areas in Crocodile country where you can swim. You just have to know for sure that it is safe before you go in the water. If you are not sure, don't enter the water.

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