SYDNEY, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Australian wildlife authorities were on the hunt for a 4-metre crocodile, after the body of a spearfisherman was found on Monday.

The 35-year-old man, Warren Hughes, was pronounced missing late Saturday, after his boat and speargun were found near Innisfail, causing authorities to begin their search.

His body was located at 8am on Monday, with evidence to suggest that he was taken by a large crocodile, the second such attack in as many days.

Wildlife authorities and the police have begun the search for the crocodile, with plans to cull it.

This comes as the Queensland government announced last week that they would not sign off on a crocodile culling program, a move that drew the ire of local Indigenous leaders.

One of those leaders, Gerhardt pearson, slammed the move on Twitter last week, and warned of the dangers of not ensuring adequate control of the croc population.

"(To) let crocs loose on far north black children and our careless visitors, a gutless, stupid and dangerous decision," Pearson tweeted.

At the time, Queensland Environment Minister Steven Miles said there was no credibility in supporting a cull, with a survey planned as one step to deal with the vicious predators.

"Since the end of hunting, the crocodile population has recovered, but what we don't know is to what extent and whether the numbers are still increasing, or whether it's just the size of the crocodiles increasing and we are getting more sightings of larger crocodiles." Miles said.