Beorn
02-19-2009, 01:12 AM
The boy, 5, who was eaten alive by a crocodile in front of his brother
A boy of five has been eaten by a crocodile in Australia while trying to shoo it away from his boxer puppy.
The killer reptile has been caught but will not be destroyed - at the request of the boy's family.
Jeremy Doble's parents Steve and Sharon run a crocodile-spotting tourism business.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/18/article-1148502-0390C8CA000005DC-301_468x476.jpg
Tragedy: Crocodile victim Jeremy Doble (centre) with mother Sharon and big brother Ryan, who is believed to have witnessed the horrifying attack
He was last seen 12 days ago playing near the family home beside a flooded mangrove swamp in northern Queensland.
His brother Ryan, seven, said that Jeremy followed the puppy into the water and tried to coax it back to shore, after seeing a crocodile approaching.
Ryan, who witnessed the attack, told police that he saw the crocodile swimming away in the Daintree River moments after Jeremy disappeared.
Police say the boy was eaten by the 14ft beast, named Goldie, who was then trapped in a flooded river.
Forensic scientists were able to confirm the boy's remains were in its stomach after using a special microscope to examine it.
Goldie will now be sent to a crocodile farm or zoo to live out the rest of his days.
It is understood that Jeremy's parents believe crocodile attacks are a sad fact of life in northern Queensland. They say that Goldie was a dominant male in that part of the river and was simply acting on instinct - so he should not be put down.
The number of crocodiles in the region has grown steadily since they were protected by law in 1971.
Problem reptiles which threaten humans can be killed, but first the authorities will seek the advice of crocodile catchers to ask if they can be transported to another area.
One northern Queensland resident said that the death of Steve Irwin had made controlling the problem more difficult.
'Although there are some good croc catchers around, we're all missing Steve Irwin,' he said.
'He was brilliant at hunting them down, catching them and shifting them to a part of the river where they weren't any threat to humans.'
Irwin was killed by a stingray barb while swimming off the north Queensland coast in September.
Locals described Jeremy as a 'sweet and gentle-natured' boy.
They said that his father was fixing a broken wooden walkway over the swamp when he heard Ryan screaming.
He ran to the water and threw himself in, but could find no trace of his son.
Police, emergency services volunteers and local tour guides then scoured the waters and swamps, but found nothing.
A 10ft female crocodile was captured last week but an examination of its stomach found no trace of the child.
Then the main suspect, Goldie, was captured.
Local resident Col Patterson said the family had owned the tourism business for five years.
He said: 'Ryan's dad jumped in after him but it was too late.
'His older brother saw it all and will, no doubt, be haunted by that image.'
Jeremy's death comes four months after British-born Arthur Booker, on holiday with his wife, was killed by a crocodile in the same region.
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1148502/Pictured-The-boy-5-eaten-alive-crocodile-brother.html)
A boy of five has been eaten by a crocodile in Australia while trying to shoo it away from his boxer puppy.
The killer reptile has been caught but will not be destroyed - at the request of the boy's family.
Jeremy Doble's parents Steve and Sharon run a crocodile-spotting tourism business.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/18/article-1148502-0390C8CA000005DC-301_468x476.jpg
Tragedy: Crocodile victim Jeremy Doble (centre) with mother Sharon and big brother Ryan, who is believed to have witnessed the horrifying attack
He was last seen 12 days ago playing near the family home beside a flooded mangrove swamp in northern Queensland.
His brother Ryan, seven, said that Jeremy followed the puppy into the water and tried to coax it back to shore, after seeing a crocodile approaching.
Ryan, who witnessed the attack, told police that he saw the crocodile swimming away in the Daintree River moments after Jeremy disappeared.
Police say the boy was eaten by the 14ft beast, named Goldie, who was then trapped in a flooded river.
Forensic scientists were able to confirm the boy's remains were in its stomach after using a special microscope to examine it.
Goldie will now be sent to a crocodile farm or zoo to live out the rest of his days.
It is understood that Jeremy's parents believe crocodile attacks are a sad fact of life in northern Queensland. They say that Goldie was a dominant male in that part of the river and was simply acting on instinct - so he should not be put down.
The number of crocodiles in the region has grown steadily since they were protected by law in 1971.
Problem reptiles which threaten humans can be killed, but first the authorities will seek the advice of crocodile catchers to ask if they can be transported to another area.
One northern Queensland resident said that the death of Steve Irwin had made controlling the problem more difficult.
'Although there are some good croc catchers around, we're all missing Steve Irwin,' he said.
'He was brilliant at hunting them down, catching them and shifting them to a part of the river where they weren't any threat to humans.'
Irwin was killed by a stingray barb while swimming off the north Queensland coast in September.
Locals described Jeremy as a 'sweet and gentle-natured' boy.
They said that his father was fixing a broken wooden walkway over the swamp when he heard Ryan screaming.
He ran to the water and threw himself in, but could find no trace of his son.
Police, emergency services volunteers and local tour guides then scoured the waters and swamps, but found nothing.
A 10ft female crocodile was captured last week but an examination of its stomach found no trace of the child.
Then the main suspect, Goldie, was captured.
Local resident Col Patterson said the family had owned the tourism business for five years.
He said: 'Ryan's dad jumped in after him but it was too late.
'His older brother saw it all and will, no doubt, be haunted by that image.'
Jeremy's death comes four months after British-born Arthur Booker, on holiday with his wife, was killed by a crocodile in the same region.
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1148502/Pictured-The-boy-5-eaten-alive-crocodile-brother.html)