Traditional owners in far north Queensland are calling for an iconic saltwater crocodile to be brought back to Country.
The crocodile, named Old Faithful, featured in the Crocodile Hunter series alongside the late Steve Irwin, but has been resettled far from its natural habitat due to concerns about aggressive behaviour.
Indigenous leaders say proper consultation had to take place before that decision was made.
He is an apex predator who rose to fame in the 1990s alongside the late conservationist and television personality Steve Irwin.
But the four-and-a-half-metre-long crocodile known as Old Faithful has deep cultural significance for First Nations people.
Alwyn Lyall, chairman of Rinyirru Lakefield Aboriginal Corporation, told SBS News that Old Faithful was like a family member to the community.
“Old Faithful is a totem animal for some Kuku Warra Aboriginal people, and some family members have very strong and cultural links with Old Faithful itself,” he said.
Old Faithful shipped 1,200 miles from home
The animal is now far from home.
Conservationists removed it from the Normanby River in Rinyirru National Park last month after reports of visitors using food to lure it out of the water to take photos.
He has since lived at a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service facility in Cairns.
He has now been moved again to a new home at the Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast, owned by the Irwin family, almost 2,000km from his home.
In a statement, Queensland’s Environment Department said it had determined this was the most suitable facility for Old Faithful given its size and significance.
The zoo released a video on social media featuring crocodile team member Toby, explaining the crocodile transfer.
“We would have liked to hear about Old Faithful, and we hoped that Old Faithful could be released back into its natural habitat in Rinyirru National Park,” he said in the video.
“When we heard that he could no longer be released, we intervened to offer him a home, because we know we can give him the best of the best for the rest of his life, and to prevent him from going to a crocodile farm.”
Lyall said the video was the first he had heard about Old Faithful’s move, and that traditional owners were not consulted on the decision.
He calls for the crocodile to be returned to its natural habitat.
“What they need to do is bring him back home. I’m waiting for Australia Zoo to contact me because they need to hear from us. What they are doing is not right. We don’t want our crocodile there; he shouldn’t have gone there in the first place. He should be brought back home here,” he said.
Amanda French is co-founder of Community Representation of Crocodiles – or CROC – Queensland.
She also said Old Faithful should have been moved to a facility on Country if he could not be returned to the wild.
“I think it’s concerning when you know that proper consultation hasn’t taken place, especially if you have an icon crocodile, and an icon crocodile process has to be undertaken, where traditional owners are supposed to be involved in where a crocodile goes beyond removal,” she said.
The group has asked the government for justification on Old Faithful’s move.
“What we would really like to see is the Queensland Government cracking down on this reckless behavior, fining people and ensuring that crocodile removal is always a last resort, and that other mitigation strategies can be implemented such as fining people for illegally feeding crocodiles before such a drastic action is taken and we remove an endangered species from a protected area,” she said.
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