A beloved Darwin tourist attraction and reptile education centre has been targeted by a brazen thief who unlawfully entered the premises, stole a Holden Rodeo ute and used it to ram through multiple gates.
The offender appeared to have broken into Crocodylus Park after jumping a boundary fence.
The unknown male allegedly forced entry into multiple buildings at the park about 12am yesterday, with CCTV footage also capturing the thief picking up a 65-centimetre crocodile and taking selfies with it before placing it on the ground.
Park Manager Emily Moyes said the young crocodile measuring 65 centimetres managed to escape but remains missing at the park.
“Very lucky and fortunate that this particular individual hasn’t decided to take the crocodile with him,” she said.
“They’re pretty smart, so he’ll be going along, hiding as he goes and probably enjoying himself in a new body of water somewhere.”
The park’s staff are confident the saltwater crocodile will be located within a few days, though it wasn’t the only animal harmed during the ordeal.
Moyes also told 9News that the offender attempted to steal five vehicles, damaging two of them, before successfully escaping in the Holden ute which has since been found at Casuarina Beach.
“We’ve lost a car, it’s been burnt out so we’ve got a mechanic in. It will be well over $15,000,” she said.
“Which is really hard for a small family business. We are privately run and tourism is a tough business as hard as it is. This is a huge setback for us.”
The thief also ran over a family of ducks before making his escape in the stolen car.
“In the footage, you can clearly see him running over the family. It’s not very nice at all,” Moyes continued.
“We have seen them again, but we do have a few missing.”
NT Police are investigating the incident, however, 9News understands no one has been arrested.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to make contact on 131 444 or quote reference number NTP2500026561.
