{"id":2188755,"date":"2025-10-13T06:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T04:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2188755"},"modified":"2025-10-11T09:28:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T07:28:13","slug":"saltwater-crocodile-found-with-mouth-zip-tied-shut-in-adelaide-river-sparking-calls-for-stronger-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/saltwater-crocodile-found-with-mouth-zip-tied-shut-in-adelaide-river-sparking-calls-for-stronger-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Saltwater crocodile found with mouth zip-tied shut in Adelaide River, sparking calls for stronger penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"
Alexander “Wookie” Williams is a tour guide at one of the Top End’s most iconic waterways, showcasing both the region’s natural environment and the creatures that call it home.<\/p>\n
But on a recent tour, Wookie spotted something unusual on the Adelaide River, near Darwin \u2014 a 2-metre juvenile saltwater crocodile, dubbed Jiminy by guides, with his mouth muzzled by two zip ties.<\/p>\n
The animal was struggling to feed itself on the riverbank and in distress.<\/p>\n
Wookie \u2014 who uses they\/them pronouns \u2014 immediately contacted Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife staff, who permitted them to remove the zip ties for the animal’s safety and welfare.<\/p>\nAlexander “Wookie” Williams says seeing the restrained crocodile made them “really angry”. (ABC News: Marcus Kennedy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
“It made me really angry,” they said.<\/p>\n
“There’s no room for any part of it to have been an accident \u2026 Jiminy is too big, too heavy to be accidentally pulled up into a boat.<\/p>\n
“It was an intentional thing \u2026 whoever did it thought about it and decided it was still a good idea to kill this crocodile, basically in one of the slowest ways possible.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Wookie said it took 40 minutes to remove the tight restraints, calling it a “slow and patient process” and an “exhausting experience”.<\/p>\n
Wookie said if the crocodile had remained restrained by the zip ties, it would have been a death sentence.<\/p>\n
“For a crocodile to stay the same size, they have to eat 1 per cent of their body size per week,” they said.<\/p>\n
“With Jiminy’s mouth zip-tied shut, they also wouldn’t be able to defend themselves against other crocodiles.<\/p>\n
“Every saltwater crocodile will be a bully to whoever they can. If another crocodile realises that this one cannot open its mouth, [it] becomes a prime target to attack, harass, kill and eat.”<\/p>\nSam Hyson says members of the public should not touch or interfere with wildlife. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
NT Parks and Wildlife acting director of wildlife operations Sam Hyson said the agency had opened an investigation into the incident and urged anyone with information to come forward.<\/p>\n
He urged people not to engage in copycat scenarios, noting some animals carried diseases that could be transmitted to humans, putting them at risk.<\/p>\n
“My message would be if you’re not licensed to do so, look and don’t touch, just take photos or video and enjoy these animals and plants in their native environments,” he said.<\/p>\n
Growing concerns over reckless wildlife interactions<\/h2>\n
Mr Hyson said the crocodile’s treatment showed a disregard for wildlife, and suggested recent incidents interstate could be fuelling such behaviour.<\/p>\n
Early this year, American influencer Sam Jones posted a video online showing her capturing a wild baby wombat and carrying it away from its mother, causing both animals to become distressed.<\/p>\n
Last month, another American wildlife influencer, Mike Holston, posted footage of himself jumping out of a boat and grabbing a freshwater crocodile in northern Queensland, also sparking backlash.<\/p>\n
“Increasingly in recent years, we have seen the rise of social media influencers capturing wild animals for the purpose of gaining followers or likes [and] often these people will be getting financial gain through the followers and the influence that they have on the internet,” Mr Hyson said.<\/p>\n
“It’s concerning because these animals have a role to play in the environment and interfering with them can cause undue stress.<\/p>\n
“It’s not a victimless crime in the sense that those animals have a right to exist and do their ecological functions without harassment.”<\/p>\n
Animal welfare organisations have criticised the incident and are urging the NT government to do more to protect crocodiles.<\/p>\nThe incident has been widely criticised by animal rights advocates. (ABC News: Marcus Kennedy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In a statement, World Animal Protection Australia head of campaigns Suzanne Milthorpe said it was “cruel and unacceptable” to abuse wildlife.<\/p>\n
She called for harsher penalties for people who breached crocodile protection laws.<\/p>\n
“Wildlife deserves to be loved from a distance,” she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
“There are so many welfare issues facing crocs, so incidents like this are a further blow to this intelligent species.”<\/p>\n
Crocodiles are a protected species in the NT and there are strict laws in place against interference with them without a permit.<\/p>\nAlly Syzc says NT Parks and Wildlife is under-resourced. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Darwin Wildlife Sanctuary chief executive and animal rights advocate Ally Syzc said the issue was complex because social media often framed animals as “something comical or an entertainment tool”.<\/p>\n
“There are more things on social media that are making wildlife look less intelligent, more of an entertainment source as opposed to \u2026 [things which are] making our planet a lot healthier,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Syzc called for more education, as well as government partnerships with Indigenous rangers and the use of drone technology, to better protect wildlife.<\/p>\n
“We also have a small Parks and Wildlife department up here, who have already got resources thin on the ground, [so it’s] almost impossible to police these sorts of things,” she said.<\/p>\n