Three more crocodiles were found throughout the day yesterday, bringing the total number of reptiles bathing in the Mount Isa pool from six to nine. 

Splashez Aquatic Centre operators Brian and Bernadette Rodriquez said one of the regular lap swimmers spotted the seventh crocodile basking under the barbecue tables and had the fright of his life when he mistook it for a toy and tried to pick it up. 

Mr and Mrs Rodriquez believe the crocodiles were released into the pool around 3am after reviewing security camera footage that showed a group of people hanging around the facility in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The 25-30 centimetre crocodiles are still at the pool in a turtle tank waiting to be picked up by local snake and reptile handler Gavin Lawrence. 

He said what started as a harmless prank ended up killing one of the baby  crocodiles. 

“It’s annoying they’ve dumped them in the pool,” he said. 

“The chlorine is no good for them and at the end of the day it’s sort of reckless.”

Mrs Rodriquez said she suspected the baby crocodile succumbed to the heat after it was found after closing time outside of the pool.

Mr Lawrence said it was rare to see crocodiles of any age wandering in Mount Isa but it was obvious the nine juveniles were released there on purpose. 

“I’ve had a couple of call outs for crocodiles in Kokoda Park but generally around town you won’t see them,” he said.

“The one in Kokoda Park, I don’t know how it got there but it was lying in a puddle and the lady who found it was walking her dog. She thought she was seeing things.”

Mr Lawrence said he was able to feed the remaining eight crocodiles tadpoles for  dinner last night and would safely release them at Moondarra Lake after dark tonight.