by AFP
From the brink of extinction to ‘Paradise’ the Australian Croc
If you want a snappy death, one expert’s advice is to jump into a river near the Australian city of Darwin – within minutes, you will be in the jaws of one of the hundreds of crocodiles that chew its broken waters. That’s the promise of Grahame Webb, whose conservation efforts are credited with helping Australia’s saltwater predators fight back from extinction. Clear messages about the dangers surrounding Australia’s northern waterways were key to rebuilding a population of the scaly reptiles once decimated by uncontrolled hunting, he said. Before government protection in the 1970s, about 98 percent of the population was A wild saltwater crocodile has disappeared in the Northern Territory, driven by demand for leather and killed. Now, according to government figures, there are more than 100,000 “fatties”, which can grow over six meters long and weigh more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds), hunting along the coast, rivers and wetlands of the great -department far north .- ‘People to eat’ – “It’s a raging success story,” said Webb. But the protection of animals was only the first step. “To preserve predators, you have to rebuild the population; if you succeed in doing that, they start eating people again, and everyone wants to get rid of them.” Charlie Manolis, a crocodile expert from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said it was clear by the 1980s that the public needed to see real value in the creatures to tolerate them as neighbors. A public safety campaign, known as Crocwise, helped to local, and the regular relocation of toothed predators from densely populated areas to sometimes live more peacefully with their prey. The harvest of wild eggs is part of a “farming” program in the Northern Territory that links the leather industry and livelihoods directly with the animals, according to with colleagues Webb and Manolis. They can receive payments for wild eggs collected from their property, which are then supplied to a farm. The profitable leather trade depends on mainly egg farms and plucking animals from the wild, and is allowed Raising 70,000 eggs and 1,400 crocodiles every year.” A lot of people are employed by crocodiles,” said Webb, highlighting both the tourism and farming industries. ) a year to the Territory, which is Australia’s largest skin producer. The result of this is the leather very popular with luxury brands such as Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Manolis said that although some people are critical of the management strategy of “using” animals and removing them from the wild, the link with industry has helped save the species from mass extinctions. .”It’s not about farming, per se. Farming is what we’ve used to ensure that the wild population is preserved,” he said. “I was in mining, then I was a mother, and now I’m a croc keeper,” said Jess Grills, 32, with AFP smiles as she maneuvers a boat through a man-made river at Crocodylus Park near Darwin.The park, founded by Webb, is a tourist attraction and a “Paradise” for “problem crocs” — animals that are harvested out of the wild because of a danger to the local people or to develop a soft place for grazing livestock.” You can’t train a crocodile, but you can put them in a place where they won’t be a problem,” she said as she lifted a hock of meat usually attached to a long pole over the side of the boat. It was baited and dangled above. It came the dark green muzzle of a “cattle eater” called Prince slowly forward, followed by the glaring reptilian eyes. teeth deep into the flesh and splashing back into the water. The message is clear to the audience : beware of where these giants hunt and live. a crocodile in the water, whatever,” said Grills. As the population booms and larger crocs become more common, attacks, though rare, are likely to increase, Manolis said Dealing with a fear that goes back “a million years” while maintaining support. for the sake of conservation “will be the biggest challenge”, said Manolis. There is a panda.” For Grísaí, the opportunity to appreciate the predators up close helps to gain support to save the animal.” If you respect them and their purpose, I don’t think they would be so scary.” al/djw/ smw
