CANBERRA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Two monster crocodiles that developed a taste for beef have been caught in a dam on a cattle station in Australia's Northern Territory (NT).
The two saltwater crocodiles, named Croco and Gobbo and measured at 4.4 meters and 4.3 meters respectively, were dragged from a dam on Annaburroo Station, 100 km southeast of Darwin.
Station managers Adrian and Barbara Phillips were having problems with crocodiles on, or near, their property, which backs onto a river. The reptiles developed a taste for their beef so the managers called in catcher Roger Matthews.
"With the first lot of rain this dam filled up and within five hours there were these two big crocodiles," Matthews told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio on Friday.
"One cow had been killed and they found the body of the cow and realized 'there's something in (the dam) because it's fresh'.
"It's pretty amazing how quickly these crocodiles move into a water course.
"We just use these big treble hooks and throw them across and if there's a crocodile in there it doesn't penetrate the skin but it annoys.
"It comes out thrashing it's head side-to-side and we put a noose over its top jaw and drag it in."
Crocodile catchers across the NT have warned that the population is soaring.
Wildlife authorities caught 370 crocodiles in the wild in 2017, up from 280 the previous year.
"It shows they're on the move and there are a lot more. We find them in places they never were before," Matthews said.
"The bigger guys mate, they can move anywhere and it's a real wake up call for all our people in the Northern Territory: stay away from water courses because what might've had nothing in it for years, with all the rain we've had, there could be a potential crocodile anywhere."
It has been estimated that there are 200,000 wild crocodiles in the NT alone, nearing the human population of 250,000.
