Crocodile is found BEHEADED on the side of the road after being removed from a trap near Darwin

A crocodile has been beheaded after it was dragged from its trap near Darwin, in a ‘extremely dangerous’ stunt that has shocked parks and wildlife rangers.

The three-metre-long saltwater crocodile was mutilated after being removed from an underwater trap off Gunn Point Road at Howard Springs.

The crocodile’s headless body was later found on the side of the road.

A crocodile has been beheaded after it was removed from its trap near Darwin, in a ‘extremely dangerous’ stunt that has shocked parks and wildlife rangers

‘The crocodile management team received a report of a dead crocodile on the side of the road and were shocked at what they found,’ the department’s chief wildlife officer, Peter Ross, told ABC News.

‘The trap has been dragged out of the water, the crocodile removed, then dragged behind a vehicle and beheaded at some point.

‘Not only is it illegal to interfere with a crocodile; it is extremely dangerous.’

Rangers are now searching for those responsible, who could face a maximum penalty of $81,000 or five years in prison.

Rangers say the creature was killed and maimed after being pulled from an underwater trap

Blood stains were left along the road show where the crocodile was dragged