Human remains found after Australia’s second fatal crocodile attack in a month

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police said Tuesday human remains were found inside a large crocodile suspected of killing a fisherman in Australia’s second fatal attack in about a month.

The latest victim was a 40-year-old man who fell from a steep bank Saturday into the Annan River south of Cooktown in Queensland state. He never surfaced.

Wildlife rangers on Monday killed a 4.9-meter (16-foot) crocodile in a creek 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from where the man disappeared. The crocodile had scars on its snout like those witnesses described seeing on a reptile in the vicinity of the disappearance, officials said.

The human remains found inside the crocodile during an examination in Cooktown were believed to be the missing man, a police statement said. Further testing would be conducted to positively identify the remains.

The man was a tourist from New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state which lies beyond crocodiles’ tropical habitat. He had been on vacation with his family and fishing at a location known as Crocodile Bend, which is popular among tourists who come to see large crocodiles.

Police Acting Chief Superintendent Shane Holmes told media on Monday it was unclear whether the victim’s family or people nearby saw what happened.

“I believe it was an accident when he fell into the water,” Holmes said.

The tragedy came after a 12-year-old girl was snatched on July 2 while swimming with her family in a creek in the neighboring Northern Territory. Her remains were found days later and wildlife rangers shot dead a 4.2-meter (14-foot) crocodile.

There have been three fatal crocodile attacks in Australia this year, close to the worst annual death toll on record of four in 2014. A 16-year-old boy was killed while swimming off a Queensland island on April 18.

The crocodile population has exploded across Australia’s tropical north since the predators became a protected species in the early 1970s. Hunting for their skins since the 1950s had almost wiped them out.

Rod Mcguirk, The Associated Press