Boy Finds Crocodile Far From Where It Should Be

Stephanie Kirsop didn't believe her son when he phoned to say a crocodile was lurking in a creek near their home. The family lives in the temperate coastal city of Newcastle, which is 1,200 miles south of Australia's crocodile habitat in the tropical north. Lionel Saunders, 12, and his friends had spotted the 39-inch-long juvenile croc early Saturday afternoon, per the AP. Authorities were initially skeptical of the reported find but had caught the elusive reptile by Sunday night. "My son took videos because he was trying to convince me it was real and I didn't believe him," Kirsop said Tuesday. "It did look like a crocodile, but I was like, no, it's a log."

Kirsop said her son called back shortly after, insisting: "I'm so serious, Mom. You have to come down here and have a look," according to Kirsop, who added that "the whole drive down there, I'm thinking this is going to be a trick. They're going to laugh at me." She was in no doubt it was a crocodile when she arrived. Kirsop then phoned a wildlife rescue service and was told crocodiles don't live in the area, but she sent her own photos and video as proof. Kirsop was then referred to the Australian Reptile Park, which keeps its own crocodiles in a temperature-controlled environment.

Park manager Billy Collett said he suspected the images might have been artificial intelligence-generated fakes—but police confirmed there was a croc in Ironbark Creek. "I was a bit suspicious because we get a lot of phone calls. These days with AI, it's just so crazy," Collett said. He recognized it was an Australian freshwater crocodile, or crocodylus johnstoni, a smaller and less dangerous species than saltwater crocodiles. Still, "they're capable of inflicting a serious injury," Collett said of the smaller species.

Collett's team caught the croc Sunday night, 2 miles from where it was first spotted. "I just wanted to get him out of there, because he would've perished in winter," Collett said. It's currently autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. The croc is healthy and will stay at the park until authorities decide where it should go permanently, Collett said. Crocs are protected under Australian law. Collett suspects the croc was a pet that had been released into the wild after growing too big for a fish tank, or too dangerous.