Coroner confirms crocodile killed Australian girl, urges public to be aware of dangers

Coroner confirms crocodile killed Australian girl

DARWIN, Australia — An 11-year-old girl who was pulled underwater while swimming in a Northern Territory creek last year was killed by a crocodile, the coroner confirmed Friday, urging residents to be more aware of the dangers.

Briony Goodsell’s mangled remains were found a day after she disappeared while cooling off with her sister and friends near Humpty Doo, southeast of Darwin, in March 2009.

Regional Coroner Greg Cavanagh said the investigation into her death had heard evidence that a saltwater crocodile about 10.5 feet (3.2 meters) long took the girl, though the reptile was not found.

“(It) traveled into the smaller feeder creek from the Adelaide River flood plain during a period of heavy rain and high water level,” Cavanagh said in his findings.

The children who had been swimming with the girl told police they saw the tail of a crocodile splash the surface of the water near where she had disappeared moments earlier.

Briony was one of four people killed by crocodiles in seven months from 2008 to early 2009. The deaths have prompted the government to change its crocodile management plan — increasing the harvest of eggs and animals for farming, food and export — and to launch a public education campaign.

Both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles were hunted to near extinction in Australia but have become plentiful in the tropical north since they became protected by federal law in 1971. The inquest in Briony’s death was told nearly 150,000 crocodiles now live in the Northern Territory.

But Cavanagh dismissed proposals for a cull of the animals, saying that would only create a false sense of security. He instead urged residents of northern Australia to face the reality that man-eating crocodiles live among them.

“There is a balance to be achieved between the ethical and sustainable treatment of crocodiles and the safety of the public,” he said.

Cavanagh recommended increased monitoring of waterways, signs posted and media releases about areas where there have been crocodile sightings or expectations of increased activity and increased trapping and removal of reptiles that get too close to urban areas.