A three-metre crocodile was on the loose in a Western Australia town after receding floodwaters left it stranded.
Police and park rangers attempted to wrangle the huge freshwater croc with nothing but a wet towel after it was first spotted in Fitzroy Crossing, about 400km from Broome, at 2am today.
Local Jaye Bedford contacted police after seeing the large reptile on the pavement while on a walk, which led to an hours-long operation to remove it.
The wet towel operation, filmed by Bedford, was not successful.
The “active” croc snapped up the towel from over its head and whipped it around the air with its mouth, the police officer standing by slowly backing away.
Authorities then tried using equipment meant for catching stray dogs but it slithered out.
They even got so desperate they googled ‘how to catch a crocodile’ and watched tutorials on YouTube.
The sun had risen before local wildlife expert Tamela from Wild Life West Inc managed to tranquilise the crocodile.
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“Tamela cares for injured animals and without her assistance, it is believed there would have been no way to safely relocate the crocodile without officers or the crocodile itself being harmed,” WA Police said.
“Once safe to do so, the crocodile was secured and transported to a river system where it would normally live.
“The crocodile was monitored as it recovered from being tranquilised and was observed to return to its natural habitat.”
Had this of been a saltwater crocodile, which can be larger and more aggressive, it would’ve been moved to a crocodile park.
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Stray crocodiles are common in the town after flooding as they swim into swollen rivers and become stranded as water levels recede.
Local radio station Wangi Yupurnanupurru said they usually “make their way through town,” but this croc got stuck in a run-off drain after flooding swept it away from the river.
