Authorities are trying to track down a large crocodile that bit a man on the hand at a swimming hole in Far North Queensland days after another man was bitten on the head in similar circumstances.
Isaac Adidi is recovering at the Cairns Hospital with a suspected broken hand and lacerations to his back after he was attacked during a Sunday afternoon dip near Weipa in Cape York.
His encounter occurred less than a week after another swimmer was bitten on the head as he crossed the Barron River at Lake Placid in Cairns.
Ren Bone from the Department of Environment and Science said rangers were looking for the crocodile responsible for the latest attack.
"The young man sustained an injury to his hand that was consistent with an attack from a three-plus-metre-long crocodile, " Mr Bone said.
Hungry crocs billabong bound
Mr Bone said the 2.5 metre crocodile that attacked the man at Lake Placid had now been captured.
"The crocodile was trapped and removed by our contractors and has been transported to an approved facility," he said.
Cairns man Mark Ridge was grabbed on the head by the crocodile but managed to prise its jaws off before swimming back to shore.
He was treated for lacerations.
University of Queensland researcher Cameron Baker said it was unusual to see two crocodile attacks in the region within the space of a week but not entirely unexpected.
He said flooding enabled crocodiles to move into new areas they could not normally access.
"With it being the wet season, what we have found is that crocodiles become a lot more active and move a lot more," Mr Baker said.
