The remains of a 12-year-old child have been found near a remote community several hours from Darwin. The girl from Palumpa is thought to have been attacked by a crocodile while swimming in a local creek, her tragic death reigniting the conversation around croc safety in the Northern Territory.
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00:00In a peaceful, picture-perfect location, a gruesome and tragic discovery.
00:07The remains of a 12-year-old girl found along the banks of Mango Creek less than two days
00:12after she was reported missing.
00:14A crocodile attacked the suspected reason for her disappearance.
00:19At this stage we believe that a crocodile was involved.
00:22The recovery has been made.
00:24It was particularly gruesome and a sad, devastating outcome.
00:29The news follows a painstaking search with police and rangers from Parks and Wildlife
00:35combing through dense pandanus and navigating the narrow, winding waterway.
00:40There is nothing nice to be said.
00:41It was an extremely difficult, essentially 36 hours, difficult for the first responders
00:49involved in the search.
00:52However, for the family, it is the most devastating outcome.
00:57Like so many of the rivers and swimming spots in the Top End, Mango Creek is known to have
01:03crocodiles.
01:04The last fatal attack in the Northern Territory was six years ago in 2018.
01:09This tragedy, a grim reminder of the dangers lurking beneath our picturesque waterways.
01:16It is a salient reminder to everyone that waterways in the Territory could always have
01:22crocodiles in them and it's that element of caution and being croc-wise to ensure your own safety.
01:30The Chief Minister extending her thoughts to the victim's family and emphasising the
01:34need to keep crocodile numbers down.
01:37We can't have the crocodile numbers outnumber the human population in the Northern Territory.
01:42The death comes just a few months after the government released its draft plan to manage
01:46the Territory's saltwater crocodile population, which has grown to more than 100,000 in recent
01:52decades.
01:53I think there is always more to be done around crocodile safety, it's something that we continuously
01:59need to do.
02:00Prominent Australian crocodile researcher, Professor Graham Webb, says the government
02:05should consider additional funding for Indigenous ranger groups to extend its public safety
02:10campaign in remote communities.
02:13Using those people as an extension of the croc-wise package seems to me a very practical thing to do.
02:24As for the crocodile responsible for this death, it's yet to be found.
02:29Traps have been set in Mango Creek and authorities will keep a watchful eye on the waterway in
02:34coming days.