Swimmer snatched by crocodile in Australian river Mary River Wilderness Retreat employee Erin Bayard said the missing man and his friend had ignored warnings not to go in the water. Two local boys decided to go swimming. We tell people to stay away from the water. They obviously went against this (and) a man was taken," Ms Bayard told News Corp. Australia websites. "We say to everybody it's full of crocs," she said. It's one of the most populated rivers in the Territory. Every couple of kilometers, there is a large croc. Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven metres (23 feet) long and weigh more than a tonne, are a common feature of Australia's tropical north. They have been protected since the 1970s and their numbers have increased steadily since, along with the number of human encounters. In December, a nine-year-old boy was taken by a four-metre crocodile while swimming in the Northern Territory, one month after a seven-year-old girl went missing while swimming, also in the north.