More favourite swim and picnic spots along Queensland’s Far North river and creek systems could slowly become no-go zones as the region’s saltwater crocodile population explodes.
Croc numbers have been revealed with the release of data gathered during a three-year survey involving choppers, boats and hundreds of human hours.
The Queensland Estuarine Crocodile Monitoring Program – which surveyed 42 rivers covering 2,200 kilometres – showed the state’s crocodile populations were recovering after being hunted to near extinction in the 1970s, with 20,000 to 30,000 salties now estimated in the wild.
The Cairns Post reports that Cape York rivers topped the most crocs list – the Jardine, Escape River and Jackie Jackie Creek recording the highest croc density in the state (not including the Proserpine River) with an average of three animals per kilometre.
Around Cape Grenville and North Kennedy River on the eastern Cape and the Mitchell River on the Gulf coast the concentration was about 1.5 crocs per kilometre.
And in Cairns and the Cassowary Coast rivers including the Tully, Hull Moresby, Johnstone, Russell, Mulgrave, Trinity Inlet, Barron, Mowbray, Daintree systems the rate dropped to about 1.2 crocs per kilometre.
Department of Environment and Science wildlife program co-ordinator Dr Matt Brien, who led told the Cairns Post that the population recovery of Queensland crocs had been slow and highly variable since the unregulated hunting was banned.
“The average rate of population growth for the species across its range is 2.2% per year and only 20% of its population is found south of Cooktown,” he said. “The survey showed the spatial distribution of crocodiles in Queensland has not changed and there is no evidence of any southward expansion of its range.”
Dr Brien said that the limited amount of suitable nesting habitat meant the Queensland crocodile population would probably not reach the size or density of the Northern Territory crocodile population.
“Although crocodile numbers have increased along Queensland’s east coast, the survey showed the average size of the animals has decreased,” he said. “This is a likely consequence of the Queensland Government’s crocodile management program, where crocodiles assessed as posing a threat to public safety are removed from the wild, with more than 450 crocodiles having been removed from 2004 to 2019.”
A Department of Environment and Science spokesman said the management of the crocodile populations was aimed at striking a balance between public safety and maintaining viable populations in the wild.
“Results from the monitoring program suggest that these dual objectives are being achieved,” he said.
Less crocs the better.
They.ll only push further south inland and into fresh water systems.
Give it a few years and people will be getting chomped south of Rockhampton and Geraldton WA.
why are we allowing this to happen?
What would happen if this was happening in Brisbane,Sydney, Melbourne etc
Because this is their natural habitat. Maybe stupid humans should stick to swimming in man made pools and not mucky rivers. I know if I saw someone swimming in the Proserpine River I’d hope they would drown to spare us from their idiocy. The River is the crocs home for millions of years. Maybe we need to look at population control for humans.