This year is the 75th anniversary of the arrival of Josiah, Queensland’s first zoo crocodile. Unusual things happened to Josiah. I told a version of this story on West Bremer Radio.

On the night of Thursday the 23rd of September 1938, the crocodile arrived. It was the first crocodile in any zoo in Queensland. Surfers Paradise had an alligator, but Ipswich topped that with a full-on croc.

The Ipswich mayor Alfred Stephenson accepted the crocodile as a gift from the Ipswich politician and federal government minister Captain Josiah Francis, whose grandfather had twice been mayor of Ipswich.

The crocodile came from Humpty Doo on the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory, about one hundred miles from Darwin.

Mr Thomas Wall, of Green Street at Booval in Ipswich, was the curator of parks in Ipswich at the time. He had won an amazing two hundred and seventy-eight horticultural prizes and was the man selected to become Ipswich’s own Crocodile Hunter. He was also tasked with building a home for Josiah, which ominously he built right next to the bird and animal enclosures.

When Josiah arrived, there was a large crowd on hand to welcome him to Queen’s Park, including the Mayoress Gem Stephenson, various alderman, and their wives.

Three unusual things happened. The first was when Josiah left his travelling box and an immediate problem became apparent. You see, Josiah wasn’t exactly as had been advertised. The fearsome croc from the Northern Territory that everyone had come to see was actually just a baby and only three feet long. He was so small that he could easily slip down the plughole at the bottom of the pool. Someone jumped in and plugged the hole and so Josiah was saved.

The second thing was that Josiah wasn’t Josiah at all. He was found to actually be a girl crocodile and so was quickly re-named Bunty.

When Bunty entered her enclosure, she was a little stiff, but soon settled down and paddled merrily about until those first sightseers left. Despite her diminutive size, Bunty became the star attraction at the zoo. She ate well, enjoyed her swims, and basked on a sandy patch for the crowds.

Then the third thing happened. One evening two weeks after Bunty’s arrival when workmen there finished at five o’clock, she was quite active, swimming and crawling about. But at eight o’clock Mr Wall went down to put her into her bed of straw, he found her limp and seemingly with little prospect of life.

Mr Wall made her as comfortable as he could for the night, but not long after sunrise Bunty tragically passed away. Large stones were discovered at the bottom of her pool. She was skinned and a big bruise was found on her back. Bunty had clearly been stoned. The murderous perpetrators were never identified.

Bunty’s enclosure was turned over to dingo pups to play in. But there was immediate action to get another crocodile. Mr Wall contacted a Woodend resident about securing a successor through a friend up north. 

An offer was made from Cairns to sell to the council another crocodile, this time a four-foot specimen for £4. The new mayor Allan Sutton was keen, saying that it was cheap at “only £1 a foot”. But the Parks Committee recommended against it and no action was taken.

Ipswich did finally get another crocodile. In 1940, the Queen’s Park zoo had a croc reputed to measure three-and-a-half feet long. But people were advised not to go to the park expecting to see him.

That’s because when the crocodile was released into the enclosure, he apparently heard what had happened to Bunty. He took one look at the pool, buried himself in a pile of straw, and was rarely seen. Queensland’s second zoo crocodile disappeared from history.

All others paled into insignificance compared to Ipswich’s original Bunty – the crocodile formerly known as Josiah.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION TOLD LIVE ON RADIO.

Photo credits:
Saltwater crocodile – Australia Zoo.
Josiah Francis, 1932 – National Library of Australia.
Mr T. W. Wall – Queensland Times, Ipswich, 24th September 1951, page 3.
Jos find new home – Courier-Mail, Brisbane, 23th September 1938, page 3.
Allan Godfrey Sutton – Ipswich City Council.