Latest news with #Kakadu
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Terrifying moment after driver's 'risky' move on notorious crossing
A video of a driver getting 'bogged on a crocodile' at Cahills Crossing has stunned thousands of Aussies, many of which said they had never witnessed such a 'bizarre' sight. Matteo Mastratisi was parked at one end of the infamous causeway in Kakadu at around 12pm on Sunday when he accidentally filmed the ute's encounter with the very annoyed reptile. The Northern Territory resident had been waiting for the tide to go down for about two hours when he whipped out his phone to record the lapping water and asked a friend if it was safe to cross. It was then the driver of the black 4WD, which had also been in line, started inching toward the other side. 'Because the water was quite high, you couldn't see that there was a croc on the actual crossing, and all of sudden you see him hit a bump,' Matteo told Yahoo News on Monday. 'You could definitely tell they had no idea what they were driving over until that monster came from underneath.' Video footage shows the clearly irritated animal being dragged through the water by the vehicle's rear tyres. Just moments before reaching dry land, the driver slows down and reverses briefly, providing just enough space for the thrashing croc to fight its way out and glide back into the deeper water. 'It was definitely a rare, bizarre moment,' Matteo, who is travelling to nearby remote communities to host dance workshops for his company Break'n Barrierz, said. 'In my opinion, [the driver] did the sensible thing — get to where it was safe to then be able to reverse a little bit.' If the person behind the wheel had stopped just a few moments earlier, the car could have been dragged into the river, he explained. 'There's not much else he could have done. I'm definitely not going to get out of the car and check what's under the car in croc-infested waters.' No serious injuries to croc after bizarre Cahills Crossing bogging Matteo said he didn't see if the driver got out of his car to ask others what had happened because he had to move his own vehicle to avoid holding up others waiting behind him. 'After a few more cars went past, it was clear of crocs,' he said, noting the movement appeared to have scared them away. Luckily, the croc didn't appear to be injured in the debacle. 'As we drove past, we could see the crocodile just chilling in the water right next to [the crossing],' Matteo told Yahoo, adding he witnessed the creature munching on fish. 'It was more just annoyed about being dragged a bit, but I don't think there was any serious damage.' 💰 Aussie fisherman's illegal act 'costs him $12,000 and his boat' 🎣 Alarming scene at popular Aussie tourist spot sparks warning 📸 Rare footage captures 'timid' predator in incredible scene off Aussie coast Viral crocodile video sparks warning from experts The video, which has racked up almost one million views across all of Matteo's social media accounts, serves as a good warning to locals and tourists who attempt to venture across Cahills, experts say. 'Crossing the river when the tide is moving like that is always risky, even with a high clearance 4WD,' Brandon Sideleau, a specialist in human and crocodile conflict, told Yahoo. 'People need to be aware that there are numerous crocodiles at [Cahills] crossing and they should drive with great care, both to avoid running over any of them and also to avoid getting pulled off the crossing by the current. 'Drivers should never attempt to cross in anything other than a high-clearance 4WD, unless it's at low tide and the crossing is dry. However, even then, if the driver is planning on crossing back over, they must account for the changing tides.' Sideleau said the crocodile in the clip appears to be a 'reasonably large' adult male. John Lever, owner of Koorana Crocodile Farm in Queensland, told Yahoo the animals are masters of disguise and only have to linger 'an inch or two under the water' to be invisible. 'Have a bit of patience and wait for the tide to drop down a bit so that you can see the crossing quite clearly and that there are no crocodiles on it,' he said. 'But the nature of their skin is so good they only have to be an inch or two under the water and you wouldn't see them.' Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Invasive species undergoes mysterious change as it dominates Australia
Almost two centuries after rabbits were set free across Australia's fragile landscape, scientists are working to understand a mysterious change that has occurred in their physical nature. Oddly, the rabbits released from 1859 onwards have grown bigger than their European counterparts. The difference was noted in new research led by the University of Adelaide's Associate Professor Emma Sherratt, which studied the body sizes of 912 rabbits from around the world. 'We found Australian feral rabbits are quite a lot larger than European rabbits. We intend to find out why,' she said. It's hypothesised the changes could be due to "relaxed functional demands" on rabbits in Australia, because they face fewer threats from large predators. Physical developments have been observed in other feral animals released in Australia which give them an ecological advantage over native wildlife. In 2023, the Invasive Species Council noted that cane toads are changing in size and appearance as they adapt to different regions in Australia. As they expand west through Kakadu and into the Kimberly, cane toads at the edge of the "invasion front" have longer legs than those following them, allowing them to conquer new territory quickly. When you exclude the direct impact of humans, feral animals are responsible for more extinctions than anything else in Australia. Researchers are desperately working to give native species an edge by either genetically engineering them to avoid disease, or protecting them within dedicated sanctuaries. Native marsupials like the greater bilby once occupied up to 80 per cent of Australia's mainland. For thousands of years, throughout the night people would have seen the land teeming with the tiny creatures. Since European settlement, small marsupial numbers have dwindled, and conservationists have turned to protecting them inside fenced reserves. At the same time, feral rabbit numbers have exploded from an estimated 13 in 1859, to 200 million today, and scars from their warrens can be seen across the landscape. Meanwhile fewer than 10,000 greater bilbies survive. The researchers also examined rabbit skull shapes because changes in appearance indicate how they interact with their environment and what they feed on. 'Understanding how animals change when they become feral and invade new habitats helps us to predict what effect other invasive animals will have on our environment, and how we may mitigate their success,' Sherratt said. The work also included comparing the physical differences between rabbits that were raised for meat and fur, with wild animals. They found domesticated rabbit populations often didn't revert to their wild form after they were released into the environment. New detailed images released in fight to protect Australia from invasive pests Urgent plea to drivers after shocking dashcam footage emerges Call to stay vigilant as 'super' biosecurity threat spotted spreading over border 'While you might expect that a feral animal would revert to body types seen in wild populations, we found that feral rabbits' body size and skull-shape range is somewhere between wild and domestic rabbits, but also overlaps with them in large parts,' Sherratt said. 'Because the range is so variable and sometimes like neither wild nor domestic, feralisation in rabbits is not morphologically predictable if extrapolated from the wild or the domestic stock.' The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
ABC News
05-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- ABC News
ABC News NT: What happens to young kids who end up in the NT's Youth Court?
ABC News NT ABC NEWS Watch Article share options Share this on Facebook Twitter Send this by Email Copy link WhatsApp Messenger News from where we live. ABC News NT brings you the day's news and original reporting from the Top End to Alice Springs, Uluru to Kakadu and outback communities. Presented by Kyle Dowling, plus Isabella Tolhurst, Olivana Lathouris and Mitchell Abram.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Indigenous-led plan sets example in caring for Country
Kakadu National Park's natural and ecological diversity, and cultural significance through archaeological sites make the World Heritage-listed area a special place. For Bininj Mungguy Aboriginal Corporation founder James Morgan, Kakadu's uniqueness extends beyond the diversity of the bird life and other natural values. "For me personally, it's special because of the continuing connection that Aboriginal people - the Bininj/Mungguy people - have in Kakadu and that has been scientifically established to be at least 65,000 years," he said. But the same values for which the 20,000 square kilometre national park in the Northern Territory has been World Heritage-listed, are under threat from invasive weeds, feral animals and fires, which impact the natural landscape and culturally significant sites. Traditional Owners have worked with the Natural Environmental Science Program (NESP), and Parks Australia to develop the Kakadu Research Strategy, setting the agenda for research in the park to address some of these challenges. "We know a lot about northern Australia from the more than 40 years of research done in Kakadu and there is a wealth of Bininj/Mungguy knowledge to help manage the park," the program's resilient landscapes hub leader and University of Western Australia professor Michael Douglas said. "But responding to new threats, like invasive species and climate change needs new information, and that's where research is critical." The 10-year strategy sets out how Traditional Owners want research to be done, their priorities, and expectations for researchers operating in Kakadu. Kakadu Traditional Owner and NESP project leader Margaret Rawlinson said being involved in the development of the strategy was an empowering experience. "We've worked really hard together to try and achieve this and it's actually really happening now," she said. "I talk to my mum and everyone on the community and they're really proud that this is happening, and we feel good." Kakadu Traditional Owner and NESP project leader Victor Cooper said he's looking forward to working to protect Kakadu National Park for future generations. "A lot of our team leaders, Bininj team leaders, are very proud of that because it all came from the people themselves and how they wanted it done," he said. "There's guidelines and there's actions we need to follow now on how to make the park run better." The Indigenous-led strategy outlines the use of 'two-way science', which draws on traditional and western knowledge systems, working with and involving the appropriate Bininj and Mungguy Traditional Owners and considering the local benefits including employment and training opportunities. It is the first Indigenous-led research strategy for Kakadu National Park, and is hoped to set a new standard for collaboration between Traditional Owners and scientists. "The Kakadu Research Strategy ensures that by working in partnership with Traditional Owners, we achieve management outcomes that not only look after Country, but value Indigenous knowledge and culture," Environment Minister Murray Watt said.
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Why this picture of a father and son peacefully fishing on a quiet river has Aussies up in arms
Photos of a father and his young son fishing on the bank of a crocodile infested lake have sparked outrage on social media. The pair were pictured fishing at Cahills Crossing in Kakadu, in the Northern Territory, this week. Karen Beckham caught them casually standing within inches of the water and mere metres away from signs warning tourists of the danger they were in. Ms Beckham shared the photos on Facebook in an attempt to caution others not to do the same. 'And the parent the year award goes to? This dude,' she wrote. 'Poor child would have no idea about crocodile danger.' Others debated in the comment section of Ms Beckham's post about how much danger the two were really in. Crocodile experts have also taken note of the photos and urged people to be more careful in the area. Matt Cornish, co-founder of Community Representation of Crocodiles, said complacency can be a killer around dangerous predators. 'Cahills Crossing is considered to be a high-risk crocodile location where people need to be extremely vigilant,' he told Yahoo News. 'We have had crocodile fatalities there over the last couple of decades.' The stretch of the river where the photo was taken is a popular fishing area despite the risks it poses. Signs in the area attempt to warn tourists and locals to remain vigilant at all times due to the fatal attacks which have happened in previous years. 'Do not risk your life,' one sign reads. 'A fatal crocodile attack occurred here.' Even with signs like these people are still seen fishing on the bank quite frequently. Those who commented on Ms Beckham's post went back and forth with some defending the father while others similarly condemned him. 'Looks to be a reasonable distance off the water from the photo,' one person wrote. 'Doesn't look that bad. They'll be right,' another said. 'Disaster just waiting to happen parents should have informed them crocks are about and no swimming parent's failed,' a third added. 'Cahills Crossing, more Crocs there than the rest of Australia,' a fourth wrote. Anyone who visits the area has been advised to ensure they are up to date with the latest Croc Wise advise. Ensuring that fish and other food is kept away from the water's edge and remaining alert at all time is essential. Crocodiles can move so fast however that it is often impossible for people to react fast enough to escape their attack.
