BY OLI GOLEDNER
A juvenile crocodile has been captured in a Wallsend creek, believed to possibly be an escaped pet.
The animal was spotted at about 4.30pm on Saturday 28 February at a creek running behind Federal Park.
Police and Australian Reptile Park handlers formed a perimeter around the pond to prevent the reptile from escaping and keep onlookers safe.
The park's manager Billy Collett said they had a difficult time catching the croc initially.
"I got a few of the lads together and we went up and spent a few hours in daylight searching," he said.
"We couldn't see it, so on Saturday night when the sun set, we managed to eyeshine him from the bank.
"Then SES provided us with a rescue craft, but we just couldn't get close enough to him to be able to catch him."
Eventually, on Sunday night Mr Collett and his crew returned.
At about 8.30pm they successfully captured the croc and brought it back to the park for specialist assessment.
The croc was found to be a male sub-adult freshwater crocodile, measuring it at just under a metre in length and only weighing a few kilograms.
Mr Collett explained they're still unsure as to how it found it's way into the pond.
"We think it's either an escaped pet or it's been let go," he explained.
"We're not too sure, but that's what we would think."
He confirmed no other crocodiles were spotted in the creek during their search.
"I scouted that area heavily for two nights and only located one crocodile," he added.
"So, to my knowledge there's only the one in there."
