Tour operator Adam Mackay, snaps back at tourist who posted a disturbing video from Outback river where families with kids were on a Go Wild Adventure Tours canoe trip at Kununurra, WA

The owner of a tour company has fired back at a tourist who posted vision of a crocodile trap adjacent to an area where customers were canoeing on the river, denying any suggestions the families were at risk. 

Adam Mackay, who runs Go Wild Adventure Tours at Kununurra in Western Australia’s remote Kimberly region, slammed the woman for posting a video that implied the tour customers were being put at risk because the trap indicated there were crocodiles nearby. 

Mr Mackay told Daily Mail Australia she has ‘no clue’ about the measures in place to protect tourists – even though there have been sightings of saltwater crocs in the area.

He said rangers and ‘the whole community’ are on watch for crocodiles, and said the presence of traps was precisely why he was confident people were safe to go on or in the water. 

‘Check out this rant from someone who doesn’t have a clue!’ he posted on Facebook in response to the tourist’s video. 

‘That trap (in the video) actually caught a 1.8m saltie a couple of weeks BEFORE this video was made, that’s how we know that the area is safe.

‘That’s what the traps are for.

‘This is the only river in Australia that is protected from salties, which is why everyone in the know can happily swim and play on the upper Ord.’

Adam Mackay (pictured) who runs Go Wild Adventure Tours in Kununurra, said the tourist has ‘no clue’ about the safety measures in place to protect visitors

Mr Mackay, who runs the travel company’s ‘Econoeing Tours’, which offer tourists certified self-guided camping and canoeing activities, explained to Daily Mail Australia that there are very few sightings of crocs in the river.

He said the Ivanhoe Crossing, a raised pathway on the lower end of the Ord River, has plenty of people wading into the water even though it is a known saltwater crocodile habitat.

Mr Mackay said there are plenty of people who swim in the water on the weekend. 

The stretch of the river that the female tourist filmed is protected from crocs, he said, with traps and a removal program that is managed by rangers. 

‘It’s obviously city folk putting their values on ours, they don’t know what’s going on up here,’ he said. 

Mr Mackay, who has been running the business for 25 years, said the clip has caused people to overreact about the potential danger of using the waterway. 

‘What is has done…I’ve got customers, who are going [on a guided tour] on Thursday and they’ve rung me after seeing the post asking, ‘Are you sure it’s safe?” he said. 

Mr Mackay put up a Facebook post on Monday to explain the trap the woman filmed is an important safety measure.

He explained the cage caught a massive 1.8-metre saltwater croc just weeks before the woman posted the video. 

The croc was the same one that had been accidently released after it was let out of the trap a few months ago.  

Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is responsible for the management of the trap. 

It has set up six traps along Lake Kununurra, which is located at the upper part of the Ord River, as part of its ranger program. 

Mr Mackay (pictured centre), who has been running the business for 25 years, said the clip posted by a tourist showing a crocodile trap has caused people to overreact about the potential danger of using the waterway

The woman filmed a video of the crocodile trap on the banks of the Ord River (pictured) before she posted the clip on social media, causing a stir among those heading to the area

‘I rely on them [the rangers] to keep me informed. When they do keep me informed, I have to stand in front of my customers and say ‘Do you know that we’ve got a confirmed sighting [of a crocodile]’ Mr Mackay said.

‘Most people choose to participate anyway.’ 

Commenters on social media rallied behind Mr Mackay and praised his knowledge and experience running the guided tours. 

‘His tours are extremely safe, well planned and has been the highlight of my teaching career,’ one person wrote. 

Others slammed the woman for being critical of the activities conducted at the river. 

‘I’d suggest the tourist needs to check themselves! Why come to the Kimberley region in the first place?’ another person wrote. 

Some were shocked after Mr Mackay said the large croc was caught by the trap just weeks before the woman visited the river.  

Mr Mackay put up a Facebook post (pictured) on Monday to reveal the trap caught a massive saltwater croc just weeks before the woman filmed and uploaded the viral video

‘Is this man insane admitting this and saying it proves it’s safe!’ one person said. 

Mr Mackay explained the Ord River is the only river in Australia that is protected from saltwater crocs. 

He said only three crocodiles have been sighted and caught in the last two years and that the reptiles are usually sighted during the wet season.

Lake Argyle is home to the world’s largest population of Johnston River crocodiles, also known as the Australian freshwater crocodile.

Mr Mackay said he relies on rangers, who manage the crocodile traps along the river, to inform him about crocodile sightings and he ensures this information is communicated to his customers (pictured)

Swimming is considered ‘at your own risk’ at the lake after a 2.5-metre freshwater crocodile was euthanised by authorities when it bit a woman at the lake in 2022.

Tourists are warned not to camp or swim along secluded banks, where the crocodiles can become defensive of their nests or sunbaking spots.

While mostly inhabited by freshwater crocodiles, visitors are also urged to be wary of ‘salties’, which are known to venture into the lake after rainfall.

A spokeswoman from the DBCA told Daily Mail Australia Lake Kununurra is a saltwater Crocodile Control Zone. 

‘DBCA manage crocodile traps in this area as a part of an ongoing saltwater crocodile management program to detect and remove estuarine (saltwater) crocodiles from the area,’ the spokeswoman said. 

‘This is clearly communicated and displayed on signage at all major public boat ramps along the lake’. 

Locals and visitors are urged to be Crocwise when visiting the area at all time as WA’s North West is crocodile country.