Leading Daintree tour operator and advocate slams rationale and death of Bloomfield River crocodile
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A leading Daintree tour operator has slammed the decision to catch and kill the animal thought responsible for the double attack of a man and his dog along the shallows of the Bloomfield River boat ramp just days ago.
Widespread video footage showed a man stripped down to his undies wandering into the water with the dog, when moments later a crocodile latches onto the man before turning its attention to his dog.
A short time later the man is seen scurrying from the water with wounds to a leg, while the dog doesn’t resurface after being grabbed by the crocodile.
The recent events led Solar Whisper crocodile and wildlife cruise owner and operator David White to deliver an impassioned plea regarding such incidents which involved local crocodiles.
“The Bloomfield river incident isn’t the first time a story of a person acting recklessly around a wild animal has made headlines, nor is it the first time a wild animal dies because of human error,” Mr White exclusively explained to Newsport.
“It is not the first time a croc has been labelled a “ problem”.
“However, this crocodile was not a problem. This crocodile (Bilngkumu) was, by all accounts exactly where he should be, in the waters of the Bloomfield river where his species has swum for countless generations, in his home.
“He was not the trespasser here. When humans and wildlife meet in places where humans do not belong, it is the humans who should be held accountable for it.
“No wild animal should be held to blame for human stupidity but again and again they are.
“In this case the story went viral, and the internet collectively posed the questions: What would possess someone to do something so foolish and why kill the crocodile?
“A growing compulsion to capture viral videos of untamed creatures is dangerous for the animal on both sides of the lense, but whatever the outcome of such an encounter it’s the wild animal that will ultimately be punished.
“When are we going to treat this trend as the human management problem that it is?
“If you choose to ignore signs and risk yourself or your pets life in croc country you should be fined.
“This was a totally avoidable situation and now two innocent animals have lost their lives.”
The man remains in Cairns hospital with leg wounds, while his dog perished in the incident.
The 4.2m crocodile thought to be involved in the attack was captured and killed just days ago.