Original story by Chrissy Arthur and Bernadette Young, ABC News
The freshwater crocodile is seen in the outback river system at Birdsville (Photo courtesy of Karen Brook )
A senior ranger is not sure how a freshwater crocodile has ended up in an outback river system at Birdsville in Queensland’s far south-west.
The ranger-in-charge of the Simpson Desert National Park, Don Rowlands, says local residents spotted the one-and-a-half-metre-long reptile in the Diamantina River at the town this morning.
Mr Rowlands says consecutive big years of flooding may have pushed the crocodile into the system or else someone may have put it there.
He says he has been in the region for 60 years and has never heard of a croc so far from its normal habitat.
Mr Rowlands said a tourist reported a crocodile sighting earlier this month but locals did not believe it until now.
“There are more than a dozen of us here and we are all agreeing that it is a crocodile,” he said.
“Apparently it has been around for a while because tourists have made comment, but no-one in Birdsville believed anyone.
“It’s only today when a local person saw it on the bank that it’s bought the town out and we are all on the bank of the Diamantina River.
“Although I haven’t seen the total animal – but the others have – I have seen the head and it certainly does look like a crocodile.”
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