Australian officials on hunt for serial crocodile killer after back-to-back carnage

Australian authorities have launched a manhunt against a possible serial crocodile killer after an anonymous caller bragged about killing the reptile at Queensland’s Daintree River.

A local crocodile tour operator had first received the call from an unidentified man shortly after finding the decapitated head and spine of Lizzie, a 40-year-old female saltwater crocodile which had over the decades become a friendly tourist icon, posing for “thousands” of pictures.

“This guy rang up anonymously, and also left a message on Facebook,” David White told news.com.au

Add WION as a Preferred Source

“He told me he did it, and that he was the apex predator, not the crocodile. He seemed to want to be at the top of the food chain because he had a gun.

“He said he killed her and fed her meat to the dogs. Then the man admitted to killing another crocodile a few months earlier, who had been found without its head."

White said that the callerclaimed to have decapitated Lizzie and a much larger crocodile in Cow Bay in April. In the Cow Bay case, the crocodile’s head was chopped off and the body was left behind.

“She was my favourite female crocodile, the first one I named out there. I named her after Queen Elizabeth because she had a habit of waving at you like the queen.”

Though officials are investigating Lizzie’s death, White said that it was obvious from the way her head and spine had been cleanly removed that it was at the hand of a human.

Lizzy, the beloved crocodile

David White, owner of Solar Whisperer Wildlife Cruises for the last 26 years, had grown affectionate of her during the times he spent there.

He has been left devastated by the loss and was shaken by the brutal nature of her death.

“I named her Lizzie many years ago because she had this habit of waving at you like the Queen,” he told News.com.au.

“It looked like a royal wave, and the name stuck. We have names for all the crocodiles in the area and the royal theme has continued.”

A spokesperson for the Queensland environment department on Friday said that the officials were probing the links between the two deaths and added that they feared the protected animals were being “targeted and deliberately killed”.

Saltwater crocodiles had nearly gone extinct in the early 1970s as they were often the target of hunters, but over the years sustained conservation efforts allowed the populationto rebound, resulting in a gradual increase in attacks on humans.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE