Man attacked by crocodile in Australia

Sydney, Jan 20 (IANS/GURPUNEET SIDHU) A man was taken to the hospital on Tuesday morning after he was attacked by a crocodile in the northeast Australian state of Queensland.

Emergency services were called to reports of an animal-related incident at a stream near the small town of Ingham, over 1,000 km north of Brisbane in Queensland’s tropical far north, at around 8:40 a.m. on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Queensland Ambulance Service told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that a man aged in his 20s had been bitten by a crocodile and suffered puncture wounds to his back, legs and one of his hands.

He was taken to a local hospital in a stable condition before being airlifted about 100 km to a hospital in the city of Townsville.

The state government of Queensland in December introduced a new crocodile management plan that will make wetlands in Ingham an active removal zone for any crocodiles found by proactive Parks and Wildlife Service patrols, Xinhua news agency reported.

Andrew Powell, Queensland’s minister for the environment and tourism, said at the time that the new plan would improve safety.

“More patrols and expansion of removal areas will prioritise safety and strike the balance needed for crocodile management in Queensland,” he said.

The state government estimates that there are up to 30,000 crocodiles in Queensland, not including hatchlings.

Attacks by saltwater crocodiles often occur in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.

Crocodile attacks have become more common in the past couple of decades as the protected species has recovered in numbers, and human populations have grown and encroached on the reptiles’ territory.

Crocodiles have killed 30 people in Australia in the past 25 years, with the annual tally peaking at four in 2014. This compared with 14 people killed by crocodiles from the 1970s to the turn of the 21st century.

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