A crocodile swimming in a lagoon at Crocodylus Park located on the outskirts of the Northern Territory town of Darwin on 30 August, 2023. Photo: AFP / David Gray
Northern Territory police have found human remains belonging to a 12-year-old girl, who was reportedly taken by a crocodile in a remote creek.
The child disappeared on Tuesday afternoon during a swim in Mango Creek near the remote community of Palumpa, prompting an extensive search effort involving police, local families and members of NT Parks and Wildlife.
Witnesses told police they saw a black crocodile in the area.
NT Police Senior Sergeant Erica Gibson said police discovered the girl's T-shirt upstream about 6:15pm on Wednesday, and found her remains in the waterway on Thursday morning.
"The recovery has been made," she told the ABC in Palumpa, about 360 kilometres south-west of Darwin.
"It was particularly gruesome and a sad and devastating outcome."
Senior Sergeant Gibson said the child and her family were swimming at the creek, which is just over 3km from Palumpa, as part of bush holidays in the Wadeye district.
Much of the access to Palumpa is on unsealed road. It is about 45km east of the large remote community of Wadeye.
Senior Sergeant Gibson confirmed the remains showed injuries consistent with a crocodile attack.
"It was an extremely difficult 36 hours for the first responders involved in the search," she said.
"However for the family, it is the most devastating outcome possible.
"They are in a state of extreme shock and disbelief."
The girl's death marks the first fatal crocodile attack in the NT since 2018, when an Indigenous ranger was killed in north-east Arnhem Land.
Senior Sergeant Gibson said crocodile traps have since been placed in the waterway, with local rangers and police monitoring the animals' movements.
"It is a salient reminder to everyone that waterways in the territory could always have crocodiles in them," she said.
Senior Sergeant Gibson said residents from surrounding homelands have travelled to Palumpa to support the girl's family.
"They are all onsite supporting the close family involved in this incredibly tragic incident," she said.
One of Australia's leading crocodile researchers, Professor Grahame Webb, said the NT government could respond to the tragic death by funding Indigenous ranger groups to extend its public safety campaign in remote communities.
"They are the obvious people - [they're] on-site ... and familiar with the special cultural relationships," he said.
"Using those people as an extension of the Crocwise package, seems to be a very practical thing to do."
Chief Minister Eva Lawler said she was "heartbroken" by the death of the young girl.
"I think there is always more to be done around croc safety," she said.
Ms Lawler said the latest territory budget included $500,000 for crocodile management, which includes removing crocodile eggs and "problem crocs".
"We can't have the crocodile population outnumber the human population in the Northern Territory," she said.
"We do need to keep our crocodile numbers under control."
- ABC