Croc. yields remains

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 10

Croc. yields remains

NZPA-AAP Darwin Searchers have recovered the torso of a man taken by a crocodile in the McArthur River at the Northern Territory gulf town of Borroloola. The police said a Northern Territory Conservation Commisssion team had captured and killed a 4.5 metre crocodile early yesterday morning. A post-mortem examination had found the torso of a victim, believed to be a 39-year-old Queensland man from Mareeba, near Cairns.

The man disappeared from a river landing on Saturday night or Sunday morning. A search on Monday found two separated legs about 100 metres upstream. The man and a friend had fallen asleep at the Rocky Creek landing, a popular fishing spot near the Borroloola township. The friend woke and found the man’s shirt, but thought he may have gone for a walk and did not alert the police until Sunday evening. The police said the torso jwas badly decomit was hoped

to positively identify the victim from fingerprints. A commission spokesman said it was not known if the man had been taken from the bank or had been swimming. Crocodile warning signs had been replaced at the landing just days before the man disappeared.

Meanwhile calls for the destruction of large crocodiles were rejected by the Territory’s Conservation Minister, Mr Terry McCarthy. He said they were illconsidered and smarted of panic.