Crocodile bites golfer on tourist course

A golfer has been bitten on the leg by a crocodile while playing at an Australian tourist resort.

The man, aged in his 70s, had two puncture wounds in his left calf after he was bitten by the 1.2-metre (4-foot) saltwater crocodile on Monday at the Palmer Sea Reef Golf Course in the tourist town of Port Douglas on Queensland state's Great Barrier Reef, Police Senior Sergeant James Coate told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The man, whose name has not been released, was taken to the Mossman Hospital in a stable condition, he said. Crocodile bites often become infected.

The croc had been lurking in a waterway on the 11th hole, he said.

"He landed his ball near the water and as he's done that he disturbed a ... crocodile," Coate told ABC.

"When he went up to the crocodile, it's bitten him," Coate said.

The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection will attempt to catch the crocodile, which is a protected species under Australian law, so it can be relocated to a zoo or crocodile farm where crocs are grown for their meat and hides.

Crocs are a common sight on golf courses in Australia's tropics and signs warn golfers of the dangers.

The department told the ABC it was unusual behavior for a small crocodile to interact with people.

The resort's owner, mining magnate and federal lawmaker Clive Palmer, wished the man a speedy recovery.

"Crocodile has been removed from all menus at Palmer properties following today's incident," Palmer joked in a tweet on Monday.

Crocodiles can grow up to 6 meters (20 feet) long and have become abundant across Australia's tropical north since they became protected in 1971.

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