An 11-foot crocodile has been terrorizing the residents of Bulla in Australia’s Northern Territory, chasing children and devouring pets. Both the saltwater and freshwater crocodile species are protected in Australia, where hunting the animals has been banned by federal laws since 1971. Numbers have boomed in the decades since, with the Northern Territory now home to some 100,000 crocodiles. Crocodiles can grow to 20 feet and weigh up to a ton, and they will eat just about anything. That means interactions between humans and crocodiles can be fatal, and park rangers across northern Australia remove hundreds of saltwater crocodiles from populated areas each year. Police in the remote town of Bulla decided after one particular crocodile had been stalking and lunging out of the water at children and adults, reportedly killing several community dogs, to come up with an unusual remedy. In a waste-conscious move, the crocodile was cooked up into crocodile tail soup, his meat was cooked on the barbecue, and a few pieces of the ferocious animal were wrapped in banana leaves and cooked underground. “It was a rather large traditional feast and there were a few full bellies,” said Sgt. Andrew McBride of the Northern Territory Police. The town is sending a warning to other crocodiles in the area that might be thinking of terrorizing the town: “We will cook you and eat you.”
