It’s dawn on Darwin Harbour and government ranger Kelly Ewin – whose job is to catch and remove crocodiles – is balancing precariously on a floating trap.
Heavy rain clouds from the storm that has recently passed are overhead. The engine of the boat has been cut so now it’s mostly silent – that is, apart from the intermittent splashing coming from inside the trap.
“You get pretty much zero chances with these guys,” says Ewin as he attempts to loop a noose around the jaw of the agitated reptile.
We’re in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), home to an estimated 100,000 wild saltwater crocodiles, more than anywhere in the world.
The capital, Darwin, is a small coastal city surrounded by beaches and wetlands.
And, as you quickly learn here in the NT, where there is water, there usually are crocs.
Saltwater crocs – or salties, as they are known to locals – were nearly hunted to extinction 50 years ago.
After World War Two, the uncontrolled trade in their skins soared and numbers fell to around 3,000.
But when hunting was banned in 1971, the population started rising again – and fast.
They still are a protected species, but are no longer threatened.
The recovery of the saltwater crocodile has been so dramatic that Australia now faces a different dilemma: managing their numbers to keep people safe and the public onside.
“The worst thing that can happen is when people turn [against crocodiles],” explains croc expert Prof Grahame Webb.
“And then a politician will invariably come along with some knee-jerk reaction [that] they’re going to ‘solve’ the crocodile problem.”
Living with predators
The NT’s hot
The post To conserve or cull? Life in Australia’s crocodile capital first appeared on EnviroLink Network.
