CROC INVASION: Calls Arise for Surging Crocodile Population To Be Contained After Fatal Attack of Australian Child
Animal protection is a good thing – there are two ways about it – but we have to protect humans primarily.
In many cases, the desire to do good by some dangerous species is leading to a catastrophic rise in their numbers, causing a much more dangerous situation to arise for the human population.
That appears to be the case in northern Australia, where surging Crocodile numbers are becoming a deadly problem.
After a 12-year-old girl was killed while swimming, the territory’s leader has called for the croc numbers to be ‘either maintained or reduced’ and stated that they ‘cannot be allowed to outstrip the human population’.
Associated Press reported:
“The crocodile population has exploded across Australia’s tropical north since it became a protected species under Australian law in the 1970s, growing from 3,000 when hunting was outlawed to 100,000 now. The Northern Territory has just over 250,000 people.
The girl’s death came weeks after the territory approved a 10-year plan for the management of crocodiles, which permits the targeted culling of the reptiles at popular swimming spots but stopped short of a return to mass culls. Crocodiles are considered a risk in most of the Northern Territory’s waterways, but crocodile tourism and farming are major economic drivers.
‘We can’t have the crocodile population outnumber the human population in the Northern Territory’, Chief Minister Eva Lawler told reporters Thursday, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ‘We do need to keep our crocodile numbers under control’.”
A twelve-year-old girl vanished while swimming in a creek in Palumpa, southwest of Darwin.
Her remains were later found in the river where she disappeared, and the horrific injuries confirmed a crocodile attack.
Saltwater crocodiles can live up to 70 years, reaching up to 23 feet in length, and reportedly the proportion of large crocodiles is also rising.
$337,000 gave now been allocated in the Northern Territory budget for crocodile ‘management’ in the coming year.
Even the opposition is rallying -not against incumbents, but against the crocs – asking for more money for culling the reptile populations.
They are now trying to trap the saltwater crocodile that attacked the girl, as they are are territorial and likely to remain in nearby waterways.
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