COURIER MAIL (Brisbane, Australia) 19 July 07 Bob's theory bites the dust (Margaret Wenham )
Relax Bob, the crocodiles are not coming to get you. In fact, a survey has found that crocodile numbers might actually be faltering.
And coastal dwellers in the rest of the state can rest easy, too, after news that crocodile numbers are not exploding and that the reptiles are not migrating south into populated areas.
The State Government survey came less than two weeks after maverick north Queensland MP Bob Katter said crocodile numbers had reached plague proportions and that they needed to be culled.
Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said yesterday that a survey of 47 Queensland coastal rivers showed numbers had not increased since surveys in 1999 and 2000. She said the new study in April and May – in rivers from the Burnett in the south and Cooktown's Endeavour River in the north – recorded 289 crocodiles, including 112 hatchlings.
The numbers equated to one non-hatchling crocodile every 3.3km. A similar survey in 1999 recorded one croc every 2km and a 2000 survey noted one croc every 1.7km.
No evidence was found that the habitat range of the reptiles had increased, with none found south of the Fitzroy River.
Ms Nelson-Carr said the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Survey was looking for a population increase in response to claims of a population explosion from a small but vocal section of the community. Mr Katter had called for all residents and travellers in the north to be armed with weapons to protect themselves.
Ms Nelson-Carr said the survey was concerning and suggested the crocodile population was having difficulty recovering from hunting.
The survey results will be incorporated in the deliberations of the Environmental Protection Agency's Queensland Crocodile Advisory Committee, which is currently finalising a new conservation plan for Queensland's estuarine crocodiles.
Bob's theory bites the dust