Baby crocodile seized from fish tank after alleged poaching from wild

Australia Broadcast Center

20-05-2025

A baby saltwater crocodile seized from a fish tank in a far north Queensland home was intended to be kept as a pet, state authorities say.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife senior conservation officer Daniel Guymer said a man in his mid-20s allegedly found the hatchling late last year in a river at Mossman, about 75 kilometres north of Cairns, and took it home.
"He believed it was struggling to swim with an injury," Mr Guymer said.
"His heart was probably in the right place."
The croc is estimated to be less than a year old.
Mr Guymer said he understood that the Cairns man had intended to keep the crocodile in a fish tank as a pet in the inner-city unit he shared with others.
"That crocodile would have quickly outgrown its enclosure."
Police were tipped off about the crocodile — which was in an enclosure half a metre wide by 1 metre long — and rangers confiscated the animal on May 16.
The man was given 28 days to pay a $2,419 fine.
Mr Guymer said the man was remorseful once the legislation was explained.
He said the crocodile had been surviving on supermarket meats and "the odd lizard".
The 35-centimetre crocodile has been moved to a far north Queensland zoo as its months-long captivity would have posed too many potential health risks to the local croc population if released.
Keeping crocodiles as domestic pets is largely prohibited across the country, except in Victoria and the Northern Territory where they can be kept under strict conditions.
Queensland prohibits the practice but Charlene, a 62-year-old croc that's been with the Casey family her entire life, is one of the exceptions.
Proserpine sugar cane grower John Casey, 63, has a grandfathered permit that will last Charlene's life.
The 3-metre-long croc famously bit the hand that fed her when she chomped off Mr Casey's late father's hand during feeding.
"She knows me, and I know her moods."
Charlene was left to Mr Casey in his father's will, and she is also specified in his own will for his wife and children to inherit.
Mr Casey said to protect the reptile's welfare and reduce the risk of poaching he supported the legislation disallowing crocodiles as pets.
"As they get bigger they get more dangerous," he said.
He says Charlene has plenty of light, shade and room in her large enclosure.
He stays safe by refusing to enter the enclosure and stays away during egg-laying.
"She has her instincts," he said.
"My fingers are on one side of the fence and she's on the other."