An alarming trend that has seen more people posting videos and pictures online of their close encounters with saltwater crocodiles has forced the Western Australia Government to act.
Parks and Wildlife Service Marine Park Manager Darren Stevens said he has been shocked by the risky behaviours people are filming. In many cases, people are seen laughing as the reptiles lunge at fishing lines or snap at fish bones dangling from the back of boats.
In response, the WA Government is to increase the penalty for feeding or taunting crocodiles to $200,000. It says lives are being put at risk by people videoing stunts like luring crocodiles onto boat ramps or making them jump for food.
“We are seeing an increase in interactions with crocodiles, whether that is feeding them, encouraging them to the back of boats in other ways, or harassing animals,” Mr Stevens told the ABC. “That kind of thing actually changes the behaviour of the animals, because it encourages them to come to other boats which may not be expecting to see them, and makes them behave more aggressively to people who arrive in the area later and would not be expecting it.”
The ABC reports that while fatal crocodile attacks are not unusual in the Northern Territory, there has not been a death in WA for more than 30 years. However, with the numbers of crocodiles, tourists ad boats in the rise in northern WA, the Parks and Wildlife Service says the risk of attack is increasing.
The WA Government is then in the process of overhauling the wildlife laws, with regulations coming into effect later this year increasing the powers of prosecution and the penalties for interfering with animals like crocodiles.
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson said the new Conservation and Biodiversity Act would increase the maximum penalty to people caught feeding or teasing a crocodile to $200,000.
“These are specially protected animals, they are dangerous and people should not feed them or play with them,” he told the ABC. “The worst case scenario is that people could lose their leg or their lives, quite simply.”
• Have you seen people feeding or teasing crocs?
It’s just plain out bloody stupid behaviour. When it goes wrong (as it inevitably will) these clowns will expect others to put their own lives in jeopardy to save them from their stupidity.