2026-03-03T06:54:00-0500 / CBS/AP
斯蒂芬妮·柯索普（Stephanie Kirsop）起初并不相信儿子称家附近小溪中有鳄鱼潜伏的说法。
这家人居住在温带沿海城市纽卡斯尔，该城市位于澳大利亚北部热带鳄鱼栖息地以南1200英里处。
12岁的莱昂内尔·桑德斯（Lionel Saunders）和朋友们周六下午早些时候发现了这条1米长的幼年鳄鱼。当局最初对这一发现持怀疑态度，但已于周日晚上捕获了这只难以捉摸的爬行动物。
柯索普周二表示：”我儿子录了视频，因为他想让我相信这是真的，可我根本不信。那看起来确实像只鳄鱼，但我当时想，不可能，那只是段木头。”
“过了一会儿他又打来电话，说：’妈妈，我是认真的，你必须下来亲眼看看。’我整个开车过去的路上都在想，这肯定是个恶作剧，他们会笑话我的。”
但当她到达现场后，立刻确认那确实是只鳄鱼。
“小溪里有只小鳄鱼在游，当地孩子常去那里钓鱼，有时也会在里面游泳。天哪，”柯索普说。
她随即拨打了野生动物救援服务电话，却被告知该地区并不栖息鳄鱼。柯索普于是发送了自己拍摄的照片和视频作为证据。
（图片由澳大利亚爬行动物公园提供，图中公园经理比利·科莱特（Billy Collett）手持3月1日周日在澳大利亚纽卡斯尔附近的铁桦溪捕获的淡水鳄鱼。布兰登·吉福德（Brandon Gifford）/美联社）
柯索普随后被转介至澳大利亚爬行动物公园，该公园在温控环境中饲养着自己的鳄鱼。
公园经理比利·科莱特表示，他起初怀疑这些图像可能是人工智能生成的虚假内容，但警方已证实铁桦溪确实有鳄鱼存在。
“我当时有点怀疑，因为我们经常接到这类电话。现在有了人工智能，简直太离谱了，”科莱特说。
他认出这是一只澳大利亚淡水鳄鱼（学名：Crocodylus johnstoni），与咸水鳄鱼相比体型更小、危险性更低——咸水鳄鱼可长到20英尺以上，重达一吨多，咬合力足以压碎人类头骨。
不过，淡水鳄鱼仍然具有危险性。
科莱特解释道：”这种小型鳄鱼也可能造成严重伤害。”
科莱特的团队于周日晚上在距离首次发现地点2英里处捕获了这只鳄鱼。
“我只是想把它弄出来，因为冬天它会冻死的，”科莱特说。南半球目前正值秋季。
科莱特称，这只鳄鱼状况良好，将暂时留在公园，直至当局决定其永久安置地点。澳大利亚法律规定鳄鱼受保护。
他推测，这只鳄鱼可能是作为宠物被饲养，后来因体型过大或过于危险而被放生到野外。
1985年12月至2024年4月期间，澳大利亚昆士兰州发生34起咸水鳄鱼非致命袭击事件和14起致命袭击事件。
2024年8月，警方称在澳大利亚北部的一条小溪中，一名12岁女孩与家人游泳时被鳄鱼拖走。几天后，野生动物护林员发现了她的遗体。（注：原文此处存在语法错误，已根据上下文逻辑修正）
Crocodile found by boy lurking in a creek near family’s home, 1,200 miles from its tropical habitat
2026-03-03T06:54:00-0500 / CBS/AP
Stephanie Kirsop didn’t believe her son when he phoned to say a crocodile was lurking in a creek near their home.
The family live in the temperate coastal city of Newcastle, which is 1,200 miles south of Australia’s crocodile habitat in the tropical north.
Lionel Saunders, 12, and his friends had spotted the juvenile meter-long croc early Saturday afternoon. Authorities were initially skeptical of the reported find but had caught the elusive reptile by Sunday night.
“My son took videos because he was trying to convince me it was real and I didn’t believe him. It did look like a crocodile but I was like, no it’s a log,” Kirsop said Tuesday.
“He rang me back a little bit later and he’s like: ‘I’m so serious mom. You have to come down here and have a look,’” Kirsop said. “The whole drive down there I’m thinking this is going to be a trick. They’re going to laugh at me.”
She was in no doubt it was a crocodile when she arrived.
“There is a little crocodile just swimming around in the creek where local kids go to fish and sometimes kids swim in there. Wow,” Kirsop said.
She phoned a wildlife rescue service and was told crocodiles don’t live in the area. Kirsop sent her own photos and video as proof.
In this photo provided by Australian Reptile Park, its manager Billy Collett holds a freshwater crocodile caught in Ironbark Creek near Newcastle, Australia, Sunday, March 1, 2026. Brandon Gifford / AP
Kirsop was referred to the Australian Reptile Park, which keeps its own crocodiles in a temperature-controlled environment.
Park manager Billy Collett said he suspected the images might have been artificial intelligence-generated fakes. But police confirmed there was a croc in Ironbark Creek.
“I was a bit suspicious because we get a lot of phone calls. These days with AI, it’s just so crazy,” Collett said.
He recognized it was an Australian freshwater crocodile, or crocodylus johnstoni, a smaller and less dangerous species than saltwater crocodiles, which can grow to more than 20 feet, weigh over a ton, and have a bite force strong enough to crush a human skull.
Freshwater crocs can still be dangerous.
“They’re capable of inflicting a serious injury,” Collett said of the smaller species.
Collett’s team caught the croc Sunday night 2 miles from where it was first spotted.
“I just wanted to get him out of there because he would’ve perished in winter,” Collett said. It is currently autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
The croc is healthy and will stay at the park until authorities decide where it should go permanently, Collett said. Crocs are protected under Australian law.
He suspects the croc was a pet that had been released into the wild after growing too big for a fish tank or too dangerous.
Between December 1985 and April 2024, there were 34 non-fatal attacks and 14 fatal attacks by wild saltwater crocodiles in Queensland, Australia.
In August 2024, police said human remains were found inside a large crocodile in Australia. A month before that, a 12-year-old girl was snatched by a crocodile while swimming with her family in a creek in the Northern Territory. Her days later and wildlife rangers.
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