Expat’s shock when she realises why there’s no-one else out running

An expat has revealed her horror at discovering the reason why her early morning running route was deserted.

Tanya, an Irish woman living in Australia, was out running on a roadside track in Mackay, Queensland, in April when she spotted an alarming sign. 

‘Oh, my god. I’m just out for a run, I’m on this lovely track, perfect for running in the morning,’ Tanya told her 6,500 TikTok followers.  

‘I was wondering why there was nobody around.’

She then panned to the sign which read: ‘Warning: crocodile reported in this area in the last seven days.’

The ashen-faced jogger then turned her camera to marshland where a crocodile could be lurking. 

In January, a crocodile leapt into a fisherman’s tinnie at Jaen Creak, just north of Mackay. 

‘Crocodiles are highly mobile and can be found in any river, creek or ocean beach in Croc Country,’ senior wildlife officer Jane Burn from Queensland’s Department of Environment, Science and Innovation said at the time.

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‘Remember, you are responsible for your own safety in Croc Country, and Mackay is known Croc Country and people must be Crocwise while near the water.’

Several people suggested Tanya just needed to ‘run faster’ or to move in a ‘zig zag’. 

‘Fun fact… reptiles respond to vibration in the ground… like a person running,’ warned one. 

In April, a mother whose young daughter was killed by a crocodile a decade ago as she swam with friends urged the Northern Territory government not to expand culling of the feared predators. 

Briony Goodsell, 11, was cooling off in a creek at Lambells Lagoon near Humpty Doo, south-east of Darwin, with her sister and two friends on a hot Sunday afternoon in March 2009 when she jumped in the water and failed to resurface.

A coroner found the girl had been taken by a 3.2m saltwater crocodile.

Briony’s death sparked a program by NT authorities to remove all crocodiles within a 50km radius of Darwin, with the more aggressive ones culled and others moved on. 

However, her mum Charlene O’Sullivan said despite her still ‘fresh’ heartbreak more than a decade on, education programs were the best way to keep people safe.