A stunned tourist was shocked to witness a ‘crazy’ stunt at one of Australia’s most iconic and dangerous spots. Cahills Crossing in the Top End is known for its thriving crocodile population with visitors warned to take caution.
Despite ample signage warning locals and visitors to avoid risking their lives by crossing through the flowing river, two local men were spotted wading in known crocodile waters seemingly unalarmed. Video shared on social media shows the men chatting as they navigated through waist-high water at high tide — a move authorities continually advise against.
Within the Kakadu National Park, where Cahills Crossing is located, there are roughly 10,000 known crocodiles. Around Cahill’s Crossing, it’s said there are about five to nine crocs per kilometre.
Crocodiles can stay underwater for over an hour and can be completely concealed, even in knee-deep water.
While tourists are often blamed for flouting rules at local hotspots, Gary Lindner, the park’s crocodile management supervisor said it’s often locals who take the biggest risks.
“They think their headlamp and their superior knowledge of crocodiles is going to save them every time,” Lindner previously told ABC. “But one day, unfortunately, someone’s going to get grabbed.”
“People are putting themselves at risk … they could be attacked, seriously injured or killed,” he added.
The footage shocked those who saw it on TikTok this week. “Walking through Cahills crossing is just crazy,” one said. While another noted, “that’s insane”.
NT has largest population of crocs
The NT is home to the world’s largest wild crocodile population, with more than 100,000 of the predators in the wild. An estimated 10 per cent of these can be found at Cahills Crossing in Kakadu. Local man Rodney Fischer said it appears croc numbers “are increasing” throughout the Northern Territory.
“I think they’re just starting to get back to a healthy population. Like they would have been before they were hunted,’ he previously told Yahoo News Australia.
Warnings have been issued previously to tourists visiting the popular Cahills Crossing, famous for its abundance of crocodiles. A photo of a group of tourists casually standing on the crossing previously prompted widespread condemnation.
Meanwhile, a photo of one woman sitting in the croc-infested water in 2019 went viral. She later told Yahoo the dangers were not apparent to her at the time, despite the signs.
Kakadu National Park’s website warns visitors to the area that encounters with crocodiles in the area can prove fatal. “Saltwater crocodiles are dangerous. They have attacked and killed people,” it reads with a number of guidelines they advise visitors to adhere to.
Crocodile deaths in Australia
Previously, a nine-year-old boy was attacked by a croc while visiting the Kakadu National Park.In 2017, a 47-year-old man was killed at the crossing by a crocodile. The most notorious death at the site was in 1987, when a fisherman was attacked and decapitated by a croc while wading in the water.
Just this month a 12-year-old girl was killed by a crocodile in a remote town 350km southwest of Darwin.
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