Australian states fight over ownership of giant crocodile

A remarkable photograph of a giant crocodile measuring 22ft from nose to tail has sparked a war of words in Australia over which state the beast belongs to. The exceptionally large reptile was believed to have been shot after terrorising a town in the Northern Territory during the 1990s.

Jeida Francis, 23, told the Northern Territory News that the deadly saltwater crocodile was caught in Manangoora, an outstation south-east of Darwin. Mr Francis said that members of the community had seen others even bigger since the monster was shot.

"It was massive. There were three huge ones out there. One of them is still out there at the moment," Mr Francis said.

"It is pretty well fed," he said of the dead crocodile. "It took two LandCruisers to pull it out. They have one croc that is still out there. He should be getting to this size by now." Mr Francis said his aunt took the photograph.

However, his claims have been disputed by a Queensland man who has claimed that the photograph was taken just four years ago. Chas Cole, from Katherine, said the image, which has become popular on the internet, came from Queensland.

"It was a friend of mine, who was a structural engineer, who took the photo," he said.

"It tangled himself on the cables and drowned to death".

Mr Cole said his friend took the photo half way between Normanton and Karumba in North Queensland. "He sent me an email and said, 'look at this'."

The photograph has also appeared in the Cairns Post in December 2008 with a story claiming that the crocodile was shot in the Albert River, near the border with the Northern Territory.


/Telegraph.co.uk/