Originally published on January 27, 2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A four-meter-long crocodile took a 12-year-old boy seriously mauled his friend, after the pair went swimming with friends in a water hole in northern Australia's Kakadu National Park, a major tourist attraction for the region on Sunday (January 26).
The saltwater crocodile first attacked one of the four boys that were swimming together, but the boy managed to fight off the animal while sustaining serious wounds to his arms.
Moments later, another of the 12-year-olds was attacked and disappeared under the water. The child is presumed dead.
Local reports say he missing boy is a resident of an nearby Aboriginal settlement, located west of the town of Jabiru.
Over Sunday night, wildlife rangers and police combed the waterways searching for the crocodile and resumed the search Monday morning. Two crocodiles fitting the description of the attacker were reportedly shot, but no human remains were found in either one.
Crocodiles became a protected species in Australia in 1971, and since then the population of these giant reptiles in the tropical northern region of Australia has risen to an estimated 75,000 to 100,000.
Visitors to the Kakadu National Park are greeted with signs clearly indicating the presence of crocodiles. The signs distributed throughout the park use several languages and pictures to try and warn visitors of the dangers of swimming anywhere in the park.
The boys were local residents who presumably would have been aware of the dangers, but it's currently unknown as to why they decided to swim in the crocodile infested waters.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more!
Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS
Check out our official website: http://us.tomonews.net/
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS
