The emergency services are currently searching for a man who was taken by a massive crocodile in Queensland’s Far North.
His family was reportedly watching the incident. At around 2 pm on Saturday, crews were dispatched to the Cooktown area after receiving reports of a man being attacked by a crocodile.
The man, who was vacationing with his family, fell into the water while fishing near the Annan River Bridge.
According to the police, the incident occurred in front of his family.
Greg Finucane, a senior sergeant with the Queensland Police, said the family was obviously traumatized by the incident.
The police officer could not confirm whether or not the public was feeding the crocodile.
Queensland’s Department of Environment stated that doing so could cause the reptiles to associate people with food.
Feeding a crocodile can also cause it to approach other people or it can hang around an area where it was previously fed.
This could put people at risk. According to locals, those fishing in the area where the incident occurred are most likely to encounter crocodiles.
Multiple assets, including aerial and water police, were deployed to search for the man at 7 am on Monday.
The police noted that crocodiles can move in and out of the river depending on the tides and currents.