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NEW ZEALAND HERALD (Auckland) 09 June 04 Crocs dine out on guns amnesty (John Andrews and NZPA)
Man-eating crocodiles are benefiting from the clampdown on guns in the Solomon Islands.
According to police officers serving in the troubled archipelago, at least four people have been killed by the marauding reptiles on the Guadalcanal coastline near their base in the past six months.
The latest victim was a young girl, whose remains were found a month ago in the stomach of the 4m to 5m crocodile.
Inspector Graeme Cairns, head of the New Zealand police contingent supporting the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (Ramsi), said there was anecdotal evidence of crocodile numbers increasing because, with more than 3000 guns having been handed in, islanders no longer had the means to shoot them.
"We are getting an increasing number of calls to deal with crocodiles, which is understandable. You don't want to kill one of those things with anything but a high-powered weapon from a distance," Mr Cairns said.
He said officers could react quickly in the islands' Honiara and Weather Coast areas, but there were logistical difficulties in dealing with hungry crocodiles appearing in outlying areas.
One villager said it was hard to get rid of the crocodiles without guns.
"They are also getting cunning, coming up close to villages and barking to attract dogs down to eat them up."
Ramsi personnel are not immune either. Those staying at the inappropriately named Guadalcanal Beach Resort cannot swim at the local beach because a 5m crocodile patrols the beach.
"It cruises off the beach in the evening and then comes back in the morning," said one officer. "There is like a beach patrol tower to warn people, but no one swims there."
The local advice is that there is no point killing the crocodile as they are territorial creatures and its death would merely see it replaced by one of the others that live at the nearby Crocodile River.
Crocs dine out on guns amnesty

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