A man has been fined $12,000 for illegally catching freshwater crocodiles from the Ross River.
Jayden Wilson has been found guilty of unlawfully catching or attempting to catch sixteen crocs between November 2020 and 2021.
He was was charged with 12 offences of taking protected animals, under the Nature Conservation Act.
The Townsville Magistrates Court heard he regularly filmed himself catching the crocs, posting a number of the videos to social media.
A member of the public made a cruelty complaint to the RSPCA in 2021, which was then forwarded to Department of Environment and Science (DES) for investigation.
DES compliance officers found eight videos that had been posted showing a man approaching and catching and removing, or attempting to catch, freshwater crocodiles of various sizes.
