The Times today – Jan 16th 2024 – reports on the mauling of a nine-year-old boy by a crocodile while swimming in Australia’s Northern Territory. He is in critical condition but stable in the ICU at Royal Darwin Hospital. The attack occurred at Kakadu National Park, a nature reserve.
Craig Garraway, a St John Ambulance emergency communications manager said: “We received a triple-0 [emergency] call in regard to a nine-year-old bitten by a crocodile sustaining a number of puncture wounds.”
The victim was first taken to a community health center in his home town of Jabiru which is where the attack took place. He was then flown 150 miles east to Darwin on Saturday evening.
The Times were waiting for an update on his condition because the Health Authority was waiting for permission from the boy’s family to disclose the information.
He was attacked near the historic Munmalary Homestead. This sits on the floodplains between the South Alligator and East Alligator rivers in this reserve.
RELATED: British crocodile expert admits to multiple acts of bestiality with 42 dogs
Both rivers were named in the early 19th century by Phillip Parker King. He was an English navigator who, interestingly, mistook crocodiles the alligators at the time.
The National Park is home to about 10,000 saltwater and freshwater crocodiles. This is roughly 10% of the Northern Territory’s entire crocodile population.
Attacks by crocodiles resulting in the death of the victim are rare. In 2014 four people were attacked and killed in the Northern Territory. The victims included a 12-year-old boy who was seized while swimming with friends.
In many of the park’s waters, swimming is forbidden for obvious reasons. A spokeswoman for Parks Australia said that the boy was swimming in an area “not accessible to the general public”.
RELATED: Crocodiles swimming in Queensland’s suburbs after the worst floods
