In this photo provided by Australian Reptile Park, its manager Billy Collett holds a freshwater crocodile caught in Ironbark Creek near Newcastle, Australia, Sunday, March 1, 2026. Brandon Gifford / AP

Stephanie Kirsop didn't believe her son when he phoned to say a crocodile was lurking in a creek near their home.

The family live in the temperate coastal city of Newcastle, which is 1,200 miles south of Australia's crocodile habitat in the tropical north.

Lionel Saunders, 12, and his friends had spotted the juvenile meter-long croc early Saturday afternoon. Authorities were initially skeptical of the reported find but had caught the elusive reptile by Sunday night.

"My son took videos because he was trying to convince me it was real and I didn't believe him. It did look like a crocodile but I was like, no it's a log," Kirsop said Tuesday.

"He rang me back a little bit later and he's like: 'I'm so serious mom. You have to come down here and have a look,'" Kirsop said. "The whole drive down there I'm thinking this is going to be a trick. They're going to laugh at me."

She was in no doubt it was a crocodile when she arrived.

"There is a little crocodile just swimming around in the creek where local kids go to fish and sometimes kids swim in there. Wow," Kirsop said.

She phoned a wildlife rescue service and was told crocodiles don't live in the area. Kirsop sent her own photos and video as proof.

Kirsop was referred to the Australian Reptile Park, which keeps its own crocodiles in a temperature-controlled environment.

Park manager Billy Collett said he suspected the images might have been artificial intelligence-generated fakes. But police confirmed there was a croc in Ironbark Creek.

"I was a bit suspicious because we get a lot of phone calls. These days with AI, it's just so crazy," Collett said.

He recognized it was an Australian freshwater crocodile, or crocodylus johnstoni, a smaller and less dangerous species than saltwater crocodiles, which can grow to more than 20 feet, weigh over a ton, and have a bite force strong enough to crush a human skull.

Freshwater crocs can still be dangerous.

"They're capable of inflicting a serious injury," Collett said of the smaller species.

Collett's team caught the croc Sunday night 2 miles from where it was first spotted.

"I just wanted to get him out of there because he would've perished in winter," Collett said. It is currently autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

The croc is healthy and will stay at the park until authorities decide where it should go permanently, Collett said. Crocs are protected under Australian law.

He suspects the croc was a pet that had been released into the wild after growing too big for a fish tank or too dangerous.

Between December 1985 and April 2024, there were 34 non-fatal attacks and 14 fatal attacks by wild saltwater crocodiles in Queensland, Australia.

In August 2024, police said human remains were found inside a large crocodile suspected of killing a tourist in Australia. A month before that, a 12-year-old girl was snatched by a crocodile while swimming with her family in a creek in the Northern Territory. Her remains were found days later and wildlife rangers shot dead a 14-foot crocodile.

Source