Giant crocodile’s death leaves ‘power vacuum’

Australians have been warned to beware of aggressive male saltwater crocodiles after the killing of a giant 17ft “saltie” created a power vacuum.

A hunt began yesterday for the person who illegally killed the reptile, after its carcass was found in the Fitzroy river in central Queensland with a single gunshot wound to its head. It prompted a warning that younger males would start to fight for supremacy now the dominant male was dead.