A crocodile suspected of killing holidaymaker Arthur Booker in far north Queensland will not be put down.
Police
are awaiting DNA tests to confirm the identity of a man’s remains found
in the stomach of a 4.3m crocodile captured on the Endeavour River near
Cooktown.
Booker, 62, from Logan, south of Brisbane, has not been seen since he went to check a crab pot on the river on September 30.
An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spokeswoman said the crocodile was currently being held by the EPA in Cairns.
“(It) will remain there until it is transferred to a facility which is yet to be determined,” she said.
“As it is an iconic animal. The crocodile will not be harmed or killed. It will not be released back into the wild.”
The animal underwent an X-ray and forensic scientists examined its stomach using an endoscope.
Another
3.5m crocodile is being temporarily held at a north Queensland
crocodile farm but will probably be released back into the Endeavour
River.
