A saltwater crocodile is no longer threatening a remote Aboriginal community in Australia after being killed and made into a feast for local residents.
The almost-12-foot “problem crocodile” had been stalking and lunging at children and adults since moving into the Baines River after floods earlier this year, the Northern Territory Police said in a statement Wednesday. It had also reportedly snatched multiple pet dogs.
The river is within about 820 feet of residences, police said.
After consultations with elders and traditional landowners in the community of Bulla, as well as Parks and Wildlife officials, the crocodile was trapped and shot on Tuesday “to ensure that it did not continue to pose a significant risk to the community,” police said.
It was then transported to Bulla, “where the community prepared it for a feast in the traditional manner.”
Sgt. Andrew McBride told Australian public broadcaster ABC that the crocodile was “cooked up into crocodile tail soup, he was on the barbecue, a few of the pieces were wrapped up in banana leaves and cooked underground.”
“It was a rather large traditional feast and there were a few full bellies,” he said.
McBride said that crocodiles had been “popping up where they’ve never been seen before” after severe flooding in the area early this year.
Saltwater crocodiles are the largest crocodile species and living reptiles in the world. There are an estimated 100,000 of them in the wild in the Northern Territory, where they have been protected from mass culls and hunting since 1971.
Citing the threat to human safety, officials in the Northern Territory released a 10-year management plan this year that raises the number of crocodiles allowed to be removed annually to 1,200 from 300.
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