Steve Irwin’s father, Bob Irwin, calls for change after croc that attacked man and dog shot

Steve Irwin’s father is among a group of conservationists calling for an investigation into whether animal cruelty was involved in a crocodile attack that injured a man and killed a pet dog last week.

The crocodile took the dog, named Molly, moments after her owner had waded with her into the Bloomfield River in Far North Queensland.

Wildlife officers later shot the 4.2-metre crocodile and confirmed Molly’s remains were found inside it.

Bob Irwin, who has worked with wildlife for more than 50 years, said he was “constantly upset” at incidents involving humans and crocodiles where “the crocodile, of course, pays the ultimate price”.

He said stronger deterrents were needed to prevent people from exposing themselves to the risks of crocodile attacks.

“You cannot go within 100 metres of a humpback whale in the ocean, feed or make food available to dingoes on K’gari, swim in restricted areas at Babinda Boulders, or be caught feeding cassowaries from your picnic rug at Etty Bay,” Mr Irwin said.

“It is now an offence.”

No complaints

Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries said it had not received any complaints in relation to the Bloomfield incident and was not investigating the matter.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment and Science (DES) also said it had not received any reports of animal cruelty.

“If we did, we would refer them to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries,” he said.

“The man who was injured by the crocodile has not spoken to DES in relation to this matter.”

Molly’s owner, Northern Territory man Alister MacPhee, has declined interview requests, but issued a statement from Cairns Hospital on Friday saying he had “unfortunately learned the hard way”.

“Everyone needs to be croc-wise in croc territory,” he said.

The incident happened at the Ayton boat ramp, where there are signs warning people of the dangers of crocodiles.

Matt Cornish, a wildlife educator in Cairns and former Queensland Police officer, said the Bloomfield attack was unusual because it was recorded.

He said it was “extremely disappointing” that the incident had resulted in the death of an apex predator that could have been more than 40 years old.

Mr Cornish said he intended to write to authorities to request an investigation.

‘We had to act’

DES manager of northern wildlife operations Michael Joyce said authorities in Queensland and the Northern Territory worked closely to ensure their messaging was consistent.

He said there were an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 crocodiles in Queensland, while the NT had more than 100,000 crocodiles with much larger breeding areas.

“But remember, if you’re in croc country, any water source in croc country, any water body can potentially have a crocodile in it and people need to be aware of that,” Mr Joyce said.

“They are dangerous, deadly animals, as poor Molly found out.”

He said crocodiles changed their behaviour once they associated humans with food.

“Unfortunately, crocodiles can build associations and this crocodile has built an association between food and humans and that’s an unacceptable risk to the community and therefore we had to act,” Mr Joyce said.

Cairns Hospital declined to say whether Mr MacPhee had been discharged.

“As the patient has requested privacy, we are no longer providing information about him,” a spokesman said.