Since 1985 there have been 42 crocodile attacks in Queensland — 12 of them fatal.
The most recent attack occurred at 5:30pm on February 22 on a boat ramp near Bloomfield about 120 kilometres north of Cairns.
The man was in knee-deep water when the animal attacked, biting his leg before taking his dog.
The crocodile was later destroyed, with some critics saying that shooting the animals does not mitigate risk, as other crocs would move into the empty territory.
So, what is it like being attacked by one of the world's apex predators?
We asked some of those who lived to the tale.
Crocs on the reef
In December 2015, Noosa man Mick Curwen was working on Lizard Island about 90 kilometres north-east of Cooktown.
Mr Curwen went for a swim about 7pm, and his left arm was mauled by a 2.5-metre saltwater crocodile just metres from shore.
"At the end of the day we decided to go for a snorkel on the reef as it was coral-spawning time," he said.
"I was the last person into the water and the reef is only 20 metres off the shore. I gave about five kicks and felt a huge whack."
Mr Curwen said the bite felt like an electric shock and he thought he may have been run over by a boat.
"When I looked up, I could see the underbelly of the crocodile above me,”"he said.
"I swam quickly back to shore and started doing the reverse crab up the beach while trying to get my flippers off, as I thought it may have been following me."
After getting out of the water Mr Curwen walked up to the bar. One of the staff was a lifeguard and wrapped up his wounds.
"The next day I was airlifted off by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) and taken to the Cairns base hospital where I stayed for four days in intensive care."
Despite his ordeal Mr Curwen said he still had no fear of the water, and regularly volunteered for his local surf lifesaving club.
"When I first went back into the water, my mates used to rib me and sneak up behind and grab me by the leg," he said.
"But I just look at it as an incident that happened, I don't dwell on it."
'Eye to eye' with a crocodile
In May 2022 West Australian man Aaron Evans suffered deep wounds to his arms after fighting off a 2-metre freshwater crocodile while taking a dip at Lawn Hill Gorge in north-west Queensland.
"I was sitting under a waterfall chatting with a couple of blokes, I was in chest-deep water with my hands by my side, and it latched on to my right arm under the water," he said.
"When it first latched on, I yelled out, 'Oh, f***!'
"When something bites you, you rip your arm out of the water.
"So now my arm has a croc attached to it and I'm eye to eye with a crocodile that's only centimetres away from my face.
"The blokes I was with pretty much walked on water."
Mr Evans then had to wrestle the crocodile with his left arm while he was still in the water.
"I grabbed hold of its top jaw with my left arm and opened it up a bit and grabbed hold of its bottom jaw with my right hand," he said.
"Its teeth were like razor blades, and it just carved into my hands."
Mr Evans said he went into shock and his friends had to help him out of the water.
"There was blood everywhere, my friends had to lift me out and we had to walk about a kilometre back to the campground," he said.
Even though he had a 2-metre crocodile attached to his arm he clearly remembers what raced through his mind at the time.
"I thought, 'Not today, buddy, I'm going home to see my two daughters and my wife,'" he said.
"I remember that thought clearly."
Mr Evans said he felt safe as he was swimming in crystal-clear freshwater, and he didn't see any signage indicating there were crocodiles in the water.
"I'm not opposed to going back into water, I'm just a little careful now," he said.
"If I knew there were crocs in there, I wouldn’t have gone for a swim."
Fifty-two stitches later, Mr Evans said there were still physical and mental scars.
"I'm not that excited to be talking [about] it," he said.
"When people rib me about it, I go quiet as I don't like talking about it and my right hand doesn't work like it should," he said.
"If I'm 100 per cent honest I would have to admit it didn't do my psyche a lot of good."
Crocs on land
In 2019, off-duty ranger Craig Dickmann was fishing on a remote beach on Cape York Peninsula when a 2.8-metre crocodile lunged from the water and latched on to his thigh.
He told the ABC at the time, "It was quicker than your mind can register — that noise will haunt me forever, I think, the snap of its jaws," he said.
Mr Dickmann managed to free himself by jamming his thumb into the reptile's eye.
"There is no weakness on this thing — it's a tank — my thoughts were [that] I was going to try to push my thumb into its brain, so I pushed down as far as my thumb could go," he said.
After Mr Dickmann freed himself, the crocodile lunged a second time and clamped onto his wrist.
"I remember looking at [my hand] later on and saying, 'That looks like when you peel back the flesh and do those diagrams on anatomy textbooks,'" he said.
Mr Dickmann then drove himself more than an hour back to the Heathlands Ranger Station and was airlifted to Cairns Hospital.
"It's just one of those accidents that occurred — I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.
Men more likely to be attacked
Due to the proliferation of men who enjoy boating and fishing, its no surprise that men lead the demographics when it comes to crocodile attacks.
A 2021 report titled Findings from an Independent Evaluation of the Queensland Estuarine Crocodile Management Program by the Queensland Chief Scientist found that:
"There are many ongoing challenges to implementing the Be Crocwise program, one of which is influencing the behaviour of particular demographic groups.
"For example, out of the 47 people who were attacked by a crocodile in Queensland between 1975 and August 2021, 28 [59 per cent] were local residents, the 28 local residents were all male.
"Seventy-eight per cent of all crocodile attack victims in Queensland between 1975 and August 2021 were male."
A spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Science said people were responsible for their own safety in croc country and to expect crocodiles in all waterways, even if there was no warning sign.
"Be aware crocs also swim in the ocean and be extra cautious around water at night," they said.
Crocodile sightings can be reported to DES by using the QWildlife app or calling 1300 130 372.
