 After attacks, Australia ponders crocodile cull
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-20 07:42
Australian authorities said yesterday they are considering allowing hunters to pay to kill crocodiles as a spate of deadly attacks in the country's north has focused attention on the need for a cull. Schoolgirl Briony Goodsell was taken by a saltwater crocodile last Sunday while swimming in the Black Jungle Swamp, near the northern city of Darwin, with her seven-year-old sister and two friends. Witnesses said they saw a crocodile's tail slap the water near the 11-year-old seconds before she disappeared, and DNA tests confirmed human remains recovered from the swamp belonged to Goodsell. Local authorities said they would renew a push for limited trophy hunting of the creatures in a review of crocodile management practices, due for submission to the Australian government in coming weeks. The proposal was rejected in 2005, but an increase in attacks has again ignited debate on the issue. "I don't think you could let the death of (this) young girl go without doing something, and I think it's acknowledged that the culling of crocs, or the lack of culling of crocs, has sort of seen an increase in crocodiles," said Mary Walshe, a local councillor. "I'd take a cull over a life anytime unfortunately and I suppose that won't make a lot of people happy," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "We've got to live in the Northern Territory and a big part or our lifestyle is in the waters and I think that it's paramount that human life comes first." The Northern Territory's environment department said it was in favor of fee-paying hunters being allowed to shoot crocodiles, and would "definitely be looking at" culling practices. An average of two people a year are killed in Australia by saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven meters long and weigh more than a tonne. Crocodiles are officially protected in the Northern Territory, of which Darwin is the capital, and are estimated to number 80,000 that thrive in the vast network of rivers and lakes criss-crossing the vast region. Five-year-old Jeremy Doble was killed in Queensland state's Daintree River last month after chasing his dog into the shallows. AFP
(China Daily 03/20/2009 page10) |
