Feeding frenzy: Disturbing vision of family, including a young child, playing in crocodile-infested waters in Kakadu

Chilling vision of a families fishing and a young child happily playing by the water’s edge in an area notorious for its mammoth population of crocodiles has received a furious backlash.

Tour operator Jack Tanner from Cryaround Australia Tours filmed the disturbing scenes on Tuesday at a partially submerged vehicle crossing at Cahill’s Crossing in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.

In it, a boy can be seen climbing over rocks in the murky water while several adults stand nearby, with some of them fishing, as a number of huge saltwater crocs lurk nearby.

Sharing the clip to Instagram, Mr Tanner described the behaviour as “a croc attack waiting to happen”.

“This family was literally having a picnic on the road with the kids constantly on the water edge and absolutely zero crocodile sense,” Mr Tanner said.

“At this time there was close to 10 visible large crocs within 50m of them and probably another 25 crocs we couldn’t see at the time.”

Shocked viewers flooded the comments section with criticism, with one fellow tour guide describing it as “f***ing ridiculous”.

Another wrote: “Who would be so negligent as to put their kids at that risk? They need to see 5m plus crocodiles exploding from the waters edge to learn some damn respect.”

“Honestly people have totally lost their perspective of the wild,” one said. “This is totally insane and unacceptable on all levels.”

Another pointed out that should an incident occur, authorities would likely destroy the crocodile responsible.

Mr Tanner said he has regularly visited the area, about 280km from Darwin, over the past several years and witnessed similar “crazy things” happen, with people “blatantly risking their lives”.

Being so close to large and aggressive saltwater crocodiles, some measuring between four and five metres long, is not taken as seriously as it should be, he said.

“Everything from people walking their children and dogs across the road at low tide, to people slipping over trying to pull in a fish with a big croc chasing the fish.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it is only a matter of time until we have another fatality here and it will be witnessed by hundreds of people.”

A warning on the Parks Australia website makes it clear that the dangerous animals gather in “large numbers” in the area to snack on barramundi and mullet.

“Fifty crocodiles or more have been counted in the 400m stretch of river between Cahill’s Crossing and the East Alligator River upstream boat ramp,” it advised.

“Normally the crocodile density is about five to nine crocodiles per kilometre.”

Similar wild scenes were captured two years ago by a tourist named Sarah, who was travelling around the country in a caravan.

In a video she shared to TikTok, a large crowd of visitors can be seen standing next to or even in the water, watching a large croc float by just metres away.

“This is why tourists get eaten by crocodiles,” she said.

Months earlier, ABC News shared similar eerie vision, prompting Kakadu National Park authorities to admonish the “disappointing” behaviour.

“Saltwater crocodiles are dangerous animals and have attacked and killed people at Cahill’s Crossing. It is not safe to stand at the water’s edge,” it said in a Facebook post.

“Safety around waterways should be the highest priority when visiting Kakadu and visitors should never be complacent around crocodiles.”

People have perished at Cahill’s Crossing after being attacked by crocs, with a 47-year-old killed in 2017 while wading across the river.

Perhaps the most infamous incident occurred in 1987 when fisherman Kerry McLoughlin was grabbed and dragged into the water, before being decapitated in front of horrified onlookers.

There are plenty of safe vantage points from where to view the crocodiles, including an elevated and fenced viewing platform that underwent a $3 million upgrade in 2022.

An annual spectacle known as the ‘feeding frenzy’, when crocs gather in large numbers to feast on fish that are pushed over the causeway, occurs in the latter part of the dry season.

The peak times are July through to October.

Cahill’s Crossing is known for being the most dangerous area in Kakadu National Park.

In his post, Mr Tanner pleased with visitors to show commonsense and avoid risky behaviour – especially those travelling with kids.

“Parents! Please! When travelling to the top end, be croc wise! Teach your children about the dangers of crocs and we can all enjoy the natural wonder that is Cahills Crossing for many many more years to come,” he wrote.

“I absolutely love working out here and I have built my life around it. I don’t want to see places like this shut down.”