Right: A saltwater, or estaurine crocodile. These often huge reptiles have killed many humans, prompting calls from north of the Tropic of Capricorn for culling of crocs near northern towns and tourist areas.
Arguments in favour of culling saltwater crocodiles
1. Saltwater crocodiles are no longer endangeredIt has been claimed that crocodiles no longer need the level of protection they have been afforded in north Australian states and territories since the early 1970s. Then crocodile numbers were in serious decline and they had been classed as 'endangered'. Now, many claim, numbers have revived to the point where it should be possible to cull these animals without having an impact on the species survival.
Hinchinbrook MP, Mr Andrew Cripps, has stated, 'It is no longer the case that crocodiles are endangered as far as the numbers in the wild are concerned.'
Saltwater crocodiles are listed as 'Vulnerable' wildlife in Schedule 3 of the Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006. Their status is regarded as particularly problematic in Queensland due to a shortage of breeding grounds. There are those who maintain that their increase in numbers Australia-wide makes it reasonable to cull them in areas where they pose a risk to human beings.
2. Saltwater crocodile numbers are growing at an unsustainable rate
Mick Pitman, who has spent nearly three decades catching crocodiles and selling crocodile products has stated, 'When you're getting the numbers that are kicking around at the moment and the people that are around at the moment, you've got to draw a balance and it's just not happening over there in Queensland. It's not happening at all.'
Referring to Queensland's crocodile numbers, federal Parliamentarian, Bob Katter, has stated, 'Nature is completely out of whack. Where we had no crocodiles at all now in these rivers, some of them will have 80 or 100.'
Mr Katter has further claimed, 'I'm a fourth generation North Queenslander and not in my handed-down history have I ever seen anything like the numbers of crocodiles we are seeing now.
All of our population is a stone's throw from the beach, or an estuary, or a river where these crocodiles live.
You'll find them about a kilometre from the main street of Ingham - I mean, they're wandering into people's backyards...
Each female crocodile lays up to 80 eggs a year and in the old days only four or five survived to maturity.
They were preyed on by the first Australians and by species such as dingos, goannas, snakes, barramundi and groper, which just don't exist in the same numbers. Now virtually all these eggs are surviving.'
Crocodile numbers have increased in the Territory to about 70,000 from a low of 3000 in 1971 when they were first protected from wholesale culling.
In places like Kakadu, which in 2003 attracted more than 170,000 visitors, the battle is to manage an expanding, and fully protected, crocodile population.
2003 was called the 'year of the crocodiles' in Kakadu. Park workers experienced an unusually heavy workload. In one incident, a young girl near a Kakadu outstation was wounded by a two-metre saltwater crocodile.
The wet season usually provides a lull in crocodile activity, because the animals are more dispersed across the region, but Garry Lindner, who is in charge of the park's crocodile management, said within the one week in 2004 a young boy discovered a three-metre crocodile crawling close to an outstation house. While another was run over while crossing a Kakadu highway and became tucker for a local Aboriginal man.
3. Saltwater crocodiles pose an unacceptable threat to humans
Saltwater crocodiles are distinct from freshwater crocodiles in that they grow to be much larger and they are far more aggressive.
Saltwater crocodiles are generally regarded as the most dangerous animals in Australia. They are large, territorial and aggressive and occur in significant numbers across the north of the Australia. Australian saltwater crocodiles are the largest reptile in the world in terms of mass (they can be over 1000kg), and the largest crocodile with a confirmed measurement. The males can reach a length of up to six or seven metres, though such a size is rare. Anything over five metres in very uncommon. Females reach two and a half to three metres.
This is a large headed species with a heavy set of jaws which can exert a pressure of several tons.
The territorial behaviour of the male saltwater crocodiles forces the young crocodiles out of the region in which they have been raised. They have to find an unoccupied territory for themselves. If they are unable to do that they will either be killed or be forced out to sea. Here they will move around until they find another river system. This behaviour helps to account for the wide spread of saltwater crocodile populations and increases the likelihood of their coming into contact with human settlements.
Saltwater crocodile attacks occur on a regular basis (though mostly to pets and livestock, not humans). Between 1985 and 2006, there were 17 attacks by crocodiles in Australia, five of which were fatal. In 2002 a 23 year old German tourist is taken in Kakadu National Park when swimming in a billabong at night time. In 2003 a 22 year old Northern Territory man is taken after wading too far into the Finniss River near Darwin. Three fatal crocodile attacks occurred in 2005. A man was grabbed by his arm and pulled from his canoe in northern Queensland. The other two crocodile attacks occurred in the ocean waters of the Northern Territory coast. The fatal 2008 attack has already been outlined above.
There are those who maintain that saltwater crocodiles pose an unacceptable threat to human beings and have gone so far as to propose not simply that they should be culled but that they should be deliberately hunted out.
4. Crocodile depredations may damage the tourist industry
It has been suggested that every crocodile attack has a serious adverse effect on the tourist industry. After the recent death of Arthur Booker local members of the tourist industry have claimed that the effect on the tourist trade has been damaging.
Dave Swinburn, the manager of Pleasure Divers on Magnetic Island, has claimed that every day a relocated 'rogue' crocodile went uncaught brought him a step closer to unemployment. Mr Swinburn has stated that the dive shop has lost about $6000 in the two weeks that swimming areas and dive sites were declared off limits.
'It's getting to crisis point now,' Mr Swinburn said. 'There are no backpackers any more. It's like a ghost town around here. It's the quiet time of the season, but not this quiet.'
Townsville Labor MP Mike Reynolds has further stated, 'The presence of this large crocodile on the shores of Magnetic Island has had a strong social and economic impact on residents, business owners and tourists.'
In response to the same crocodile attack, Opposition Tourism and Small Business spokesman, Rob Messenger, has called on the state government to compensate Townsville business owners and tourism operators that have lost thousands of dollars.'
It has further been suggested that Australia's attractiveness as a holiday destination, especially for families, may be seriously harmed if it is believed that rivers and other waterways are unsafe. Crocodiles may have some appeal for those seeking an adventure holiday or a safari type of experience. They are more likely to have a negative effect on those merely wishing to sightsee and enjoy Australia's natural environment. Those with young children are particularly unlikely to see any country with a dangerous crocodile population as an desirable tourist destination.
5. Any culling would be strictly regulated and for crocodile population control purposes and human and stock safety only
Supporters of crocodile culling generally stress that any such action would be strictly regulated and would be undertaken only for public safety and crocodile population purposes, not with the commercial intent for which earlier, uncontrolled crocodile shootings were undertaken.
This point was made in 2005 by the Queensland Liberal Opposition. The Opposition Leader, Lawrence Springborg, said a cull should be considered, 'I think we shouldn't be lighthearted on this because there is a public safety issue here. It is now time to act and look seriously at the issue of controlled culls of crocodiles.'
Since 2003, pastoralists along the Western Australian - Northern Territory border have sought the re-introduction of controlled culling of saltwater crocodiles. A limited number of crocodiles are removed from the Ord and Victoria Rivers under permit, but some stations are losing more than 300 cattle a year. Again, strict records would be kept of any crocodiles that had to be shot to protect livestock.
Currently in the Northern Territory up to 600 saltwater crocodiles are culled by professional wildlife officers annually. In 2005, when commercial crocodile safaris had been proposed by the northern Territory government, the then federal Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, noted that there was a big difference between controlled culling and amateur hunting.
Advocates of crocodile culling maintain that the Northern Territory program should be extended into other parts of Australia.
6. Crocodile relocation is a failure
Currently in Queensland crocodiles believed to pose a threat to human settlement are relocated. This relocation scheme has been condemned as ineffective and poorly implemented.
Government's crocodile relocation policies have been blamed for two fatal attacks since 2005, including on Vietnam veteran Arthur Booker in September.
The Queensland Environment Minister, Andrew McNamara, yesterday said the wrong crocodile had been shot following a fatal attack involving Townsville man Barry Jefferies - who died at Lakefield National Park in 2005 - after an anonymous letter purporting to be from a Queensland Parks and Wildlife officer was tabled by the Opposition in State Parliament.
The killer crocodile was reportedly returned to the river by the State Government. The letter claims that the two fatal crocodile attacks, both of which occurred on Cape York, were 'closely connected with (Queensland Parks and Wildlife's) ill-conceived, unnecessary and poorly managed crocodile research/relocation management decisions'.
The claims come after the state Government was criticised for relocating a crocodile that ended up at Magnetic Island, near Townsville, where it menaced beachgoers. The crocodile was later captured and later died in captivity.
The letter alleges the animals involved in the fatal attacks on Barry Jeffries, at Lakefield National Park in August 2005, and Booker, at Cooktown, were known to the Government as 'dangerous crocodiles'.
The letter also claims there is a 'culture of secrecy, deceit and intimidation' in the department and that staff who oppose the relocation or release of dangerous crocodiles are harassed by management.
It has also been claimed that the relocation policy is fundamentally faulted as the territorial behaviour of established male crocodiles means that younger male crocodiles will roam until they find unclaimed territory and relocated crocodiles may return to the areas from which they have been moved.