1:16pm UK, Tuesday October 04, 2005

A crocodile has mauled a young girl in Australia, days after similar attacks left two men dead.

The 10-year-old was swimming off the coast of remote north-western Australia when she was bitten.

180 saltwater crocodile generic

Agressive in breeding season

She had been on a tour boat trip in Doubtful Bay, 500 miles south-west of Darwin.

A police spokeswoman said: "She suffered injuries to her arms, chest and back, which weren't life threatening."

Crocodile expert Malcolm Douglas told ABC radio in Australia that the reptiles become more aggressive during the breeding season and that the risk of attacks is increasing because more people are venturing into the remote wilderness.

"It's a change of season," he said. "The temperature is rising and the crocodiles are having a hormonal change. They want to mate, they want to defend their territory, and they are very, very hungry and they are very aggressive."

Last week, a 56-year-old man was killed while scuba-diving with a friend north of Darwin.

Five days earlier, a 37-year-old British engineer Russell Harris was killed by a large saltwater crocodile while he was snorkelling off the Northern Territory. Police found his body the next day.

About a dozen people have been killed by crocodiles in Australia in the past 20 years.

In August, a 60-year-old man was dragged out of a canoe and killed by a crocodile in northeastern Queensland state.