Far, far north Queensland MP Warren Entsch has attributed a recent brutal death at the hands of a crocodile to “human stupidity” and urged people not to take out their anger on the crocs who inhabit the area.
The 46-year-old woman was dragged underwater by a crocodile at Thornton Beach (roughly 2 hours north of Cairns), while a friend she was swimming with tried unsuccessfully to pull her back out of the water and has not been seen since.
The two were swimming in waist-deep water at around 10:30 in the evening when the attack took place, in an area littered with signs warning people about the presence of crocodiles.
Entsch told reporters that the incident was a tragedy but completely avoidable:
“You can only get there by ferry, and there are signs there saying watch out for the bloody crocodiles. If you go in swimming at 10 o’clock at night, you’re going to get consumed.”
He also said he’s worried the attack will lead to rash decisions about how to manage the crocodiles in the area, who were in a national park in their natural environment at the time.
Entsch added that you “can’t legislate against human stupidity”, which I’m not 100% certain is true, but cracking down on the crocs for us messing around in their home does seem like it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Source: SMH.
Photo: Getty Images / Ryan Pierse.
