A young crocodile has been safely captured after being spotted swimming in a creek behind a Bunnings in Newcastle.

Local police were called to Federal Park in the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend on Saturday afternoon, after a group of teenagers spotted the reptile in Ironbark Creek.

“Attending police formed a perimeter around the pond to prevent the reptile escaping and keep onlookers at a safe distance,” NSW Police said.

Animal handling specialists were called in from a reptile park to try to retrieve the freshwater crocodile, assisted by local State Emergency Service crew. They couldn’t manage to get the metre-long animal out of the water.

They decided to return with a tinny, head torches and a high level of patience on Sunday night.

“After about an hour in the water, we couldn’t find her,” Billy Collett from the Australian Reptile Park said.

“We started to lose hope.”

The team had almost arrived at the Hunter Wetlands, three kilometres downstream when, looking back up the river, they spotted the croc’s eye sign. They paddled quietly over, and then Collett jumped.

“I did a swan dive off the boat, got under her, grabbed her, and secured her,” he said.

“It was the best feeling.”

The mother of one of the teenagers said she was sceptical when he told her what they had seen.

“This is a trick … it looks like a crocodile but that’s probably a log,” Stephanie Kirsop told The Guardian of her initial thoughts.

“It took him about two hours to fully convince me to go down there and have a look. I get there, I look and here’s this little crocodile swimming around in the water.”

Kirsop contacted wildlife rescue group Wires, and the Australian Reptile Park, but they were also initially slow to respond. Then she rang police.

“Once that police officer saw that crocodile out swimming in the water, that’s when everything started going a bit quicker,” Kirsop said.

Autralian Reptile Park staff said the murky creek water made the job tricky.

“But our team, led by Billy Collett, worked across the weekend to safely secure the little croc late Sunday night, with its safety being our No.1 priority,” they said in a post on social media.

They said the animal was a long way from its native habitat in northern Australia, and wouldn’t have survived long in the creek.

“Our veterinary team is giving it a full health check and making sure it’s getting the proper care it needs … We’re just glad this little croc is now safe in our hands,” they said.

Park marketing manager Alex Martinovich said the crocodile had likely been dumped after being someone’s illegal pet.

“She’s just travelling around looking for somewhere safe to go,” she said.

“People get these pets because that is going to be so cool but once a croc is a metre long – even a freshwater – it’s a pretty big animal.”

Police said they didn’t know how long the crocodile had been in the water, or how it got there.

“There were no injuries and no further crocodiles have been located in the area,” they said.