Grim prediction following rare sighting of 'vagrant' crocodile on southern Queensland beach

The Queensland Environment Department insists the croc sighting on Monday does not mean the population is migrating further south, but not everyone agrees.

The crocodile's track marks on the sand at Inskip Point after the predator was spotted on Monday.
The sighting at Inskip Point on Monday has raised questions about croc migration patterns. Source: DETSI

A grim prediction has emerged after a two-metre crocodile was spotted on a beach near a popular camping spot in south-east Queensland, with leading experts unable to agree on why it ventured 380km outside of its usual habitat.

A ranger observed the croc at Inskip Point — the vehicular gateway to popular tourist and camping spot K'gari (formerly Fraser Island) — on Monday before watching it flee back into the water, the Queensland Environment Department said. Subsequent photos show the animal’s body imprint and claw marks on the sand.

A spokesperson for the department said the croc is likely the same one that was seen near Bundaberg, 300km north, last month.

“We can reassure the public that this crocodile is considered to be a vagrant animal that has moved into the area from up north, and this sighting does not mean the crocodile population is extending south,” senior wildlife officer Joshua Morris said while urging locals and visitors in the area to remain “vigilant around the water, keep their children close and use an esky or something similar as a barrier while fishing”.

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Despite the department’s denial, Professor Stephen Williams, an expert on the influence of climate change on biodiversity, told Yahoo News Australia the recent croc sighting is “most likely” linked to predictions the predators will inevitably migrate south as waters warm due to climate change.

The crocodile's claw print in the sand at Inskip Point.
The croc is believed to be the same one that was seen near Bundaberg, 300km north, last month. Source: Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

There are two reasons crocodiles, which are known to travel hundreds of kilometres in search of a new territory, are moving further down the Queensland coast, Professor Williams said.

“Their population has been steadily growing since they became protected, and as density increases, the younger crocs will be forced to move,” he explained.

“Usually this movement would be limited by suitable climatic conditions. So now with climate change, those conditions will inevitably move south. This has been happening in thousands of species all over the world. How far will they move? Depends on how much we let the climate move basically.”

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Professor Williams told Yahoo it is expected that there will be more sightings of the animals far from “croc country”, which normally falls at Boyne River near Gladstone.

The crocodile spotted entering the ocean near Bundaberg in January.
In January, a crocodile was spotted near Bundaberg, about 150km south of where the reptiles are usually found in Queensland. Picture: Supplied/Jasmine Van Den Bos

However Emeritus Professor at the University of Queensland, Gordon Grigg, told Yahoo News Australia “there’s no good evidence” that crocodiles are currently migrating further down the coast.

“They’re strays basically, the crocs that are down here. It’s uncommon but there are a lot more of them now so there are going to be a few more strays than there were say 30 years ago,” he said.

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The crocodile population has surged since hunting was banned in the early 1970s. “Numbers have been going up. There has always been strays coming south, so there’ll be more strays now.”

While the waters south of central Queensland are currently not warm enough for crocs to nest successfully, Professor Grigg said, “there will come a time when crocodiles start nesting a lot further south than they are now due to the warming world”.

But that is “still a long way away” and is probably not something we will see in many lifetimes.

Wildlife officers are continuing to investigate the sighting near Rainbow Beach. As well as notifying people camping in Inskip Point, signs will be installed in the area. Ground patrols, boat searches and drones will be used to check the surrounding coastline.

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“We are asking people in the Rainbow Beach region, including boaties, to make a sighting report if they see what they believe to be a crocodile,” senior wildlife officer Morris said. “Each sighting report is important and provides us with information about the location and behaviour of crocodiles.

“Under the Queensland Crocodile Management Plan, Rainbow Beach is atypical crocodile habitat, and we will target this crocodile for removal from the wild if it is located.”

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