TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN (Australia) 13 October 04 Attack poses croc dilemma
To cull or not to cull. To take firearms into wilderness areas or not.
Inevitably, these questions have arisen in the wake of the frightening crocodile attack on two people on Cape York Peninsula this week and their remarkable rescue, achieved by a man in their camp who had to deal with the threat by using a gun. Without doubt, he saved the life of Brisbane woman Alicia Sorohan, 60, who had leapt on to the crocodile to stop it dragging 34-year-old Andrew Kerr down the beach and into the sea. The croc turned on the woman and seizing her by the arm, was intent on taking her instead. The drama, played out in pre-dawn darkness amid confusion and screams of terror, ended with the loud crash of a rifle fired by Mrs Sorohan's son, Jason.
What might have happened had the gun not been there does not bear thinking about. The chances of anyone among the panicking campers being able to pull the woman from the reptile's jaws as it headed for the water would have been small indeed.
What has to be considered now, as unpalatable as it might be in a conservation-conscious world, is whether culling is required since crocodiles have become a greater danger than they might otherwise have been. They are protected - and appear to have lost what little fear such creatures might have had of man.
The alternative, as suggested in our reports today, is to allow licensed gun owners to take weapons into remote wilderness areas for protection.
The problem with that of course has been irresponsible shooting in the past by people who should never be allowed anywhere near weapons.
There are extremes in views on this issue. Most will say well done to the young man who shot the croc and will hail his mother a hero. But there is a good chance that before too long someone will demand to know why charges should not be laid because a protected animal was shot.
A common sense approach is required by all, along with a rethink by the authorities, fishers and campers. The attack has challenged notions of what is safe - for example, distance from the water and camping in a group. And there is the matter of fishing practices attracting this animal. The crocodile is thought to have come to associate humans with food because fishermen are said to have regularly cleaned fish and left fish frames and intestines there. A combination of factors might well have produced the near-disaster of Monday morning.
The challenge now is to avoid a repeat and seriously consider how humans and crocs are going to exist side by side as crocodile numbers apparently increase and more people go bush.
http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,11058736%5E15702,00.html
TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN (Australia) 12 October 04 Croc attack triggers gun talk (John Andersen)
Debate over firearm restrictions in remote areas has resurfaced after the lives of two people were saved when a crocodile mauling the pair was shot in the head by a bystander.
Les Hiddins, a former army scout in Vietnam who went on to become the Australian military's acknowledged bush survival expert, said yesterday that if there had not been a rifle in the camp at Bathurst Bay on Cape York Peninsula where the attack occurred, the two people would probably be dead.
Mr Hiddins, who retired as a major from the army and who became a television star through his show The Bush Tucker Man, is now a columnist with the Townsville Bulletin.
He said he was not a ``gun nut'' but supported the case of licensed firearm owners taking weapons into remote and wild areas.
``Quite possibly both those people would have been killed. What were the other campers going to do. Stand there and throw rocks at the crocodile while it pulled the pair into the ocean,'' he said.
``It's time politicians and bureaucrats took a reality check about firearms. If they don't, we'd better ban crocodiles.''
Meanwhile, Queensland Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said while crocodiles should remain a protected species, programs to manage their increasing numbers should include culling, in the same way kangaroo populations were controlled.
Mr Springborg said he was concerned tourists and others were coming increasingly into contact with crocodiles.
``We know that crocodiles are a protected species and of course they should always be,'' he said.
``But I believe that the crocodile management plan we currently have in place in Queensland isn't working.''
He called for a croc audit.
``In other Australian states and territories they have management plans that include culling. It's something that should be considered here in Queensland.''
http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,11059116%5E14787,00.html
THE AUSTRALIAN (Sydney) 12 October 04 Buy lottery ticket, croc survivors told
Campers who successfully fought off a 4.2m crocodile in Queensland's far north should go out and get themselves a lottery ticket, retired croc handler Gary Zillfleisch said today.
Mr Zillfleisch praised the efforts of 60-year-old Alicia Sorohan, who jumped on the back of the crocodile as it dragged a friend from his tent at a beach near Lakefield National Park early yesterday morning.
The crocodile let go of 34-year-old Andrew Kerr but then turned on his rescuer, pulling her towards the water before another man – believed to be Mrs Sorahan's son Jason – shot dead the killer reptile.
Authorities said the two – believed to be part of a family group from Brisbane including eight adults, a baby and two other children – were lucky to have survived the dramatic attack.
"This is an instinctive reaction of the woman, the bravery of that woman is unbelievable – then she becomes the victim," Mr Zillfleisch told ABC radio.
He said Mrs Sorohan was extremely lucky someone had shot the animal before it dragged her into the water.
"There's no way that that crocodile could have been divested of its victim," he said.
"Because if it is only that short distance they'll soon get you in the water and then they just hold their breath and you hold yours – and they're going to win.
"They should get a ticket in lotto."
Mr Zillfleisch said such an attack was rare but not unprecedented.
"The fact that they've grabbed people in tents, it's unusual, but it's not unexpected," he said.
"My belief is that maybe campers of a previous visitation had gone there and done the wrong thing – maybe feed fish or have dogs."
But he said there was still more risk associated with the drive north to Cape York than by camping on a beach once you got there.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) senior conservation officer Mark Read said it was still unclear why the attack had occurred in such a location, especially as it wasn't near an estuary or mangroves.
He suspected someone may have previously been discarding fish scraps, as the crocodile had apparently become bold and adventurous.
"They often travel from one water course to the next and use the ocean simply as a crocodile highway, so it's not unusual for them to be swimming along beaches," Dr Read told ABC radio.
"But I'm certainly wondering why this particular crocodile stopped and made a very conscious decision (to) head up the beach."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11049238%5E1702,00.html
THE AUSTRALIAN (Sydney) 12 October 04 Cull more crocs, says expert
A crocodile attack at a campsite in far north Queensland showed the state was behind the rest of the world when it came to sensible crocodile culling, an expert said today.
Mick Pitman, who claims to be the real crocodile hunter, said the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency's crocodile conservation and management program was worse than third world countries.
"We're 20 years behind everywhere else, even in third world countries they actually put into practice sustainable wild harvesting of the animals to keep the population down," Mr Pitman told Channel 7.
A 34-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman were mauled during yesterday's attack at a camp, set more than 20m from the water, at Bathurst Bay, on Cape York Peninsular, about 300km north-west of Cairns.
Alicia Sorohan jumped on the back of the 4.2m reptile as it dragged her friend Andrew Kerr from the tent where he had been sleeping with his wife and three-month-old son.
The croc then latched on to Mrs Sorohan before the animal was shot dead by another camper – believed to be her son Jason.
The injured pair was airlifted to Cairns Base Hospital where they were reported to be in a stable condition. Mrs Sorohan has a broken arm, cuts and bruises and Mr Kerr has a broken arm, broken leg and other injuries.
Mr Pitman today said the crocodile had most likely become used to humans to launch such an attack.
"It usually doesn't climb out of the river or the ocean where it's in its own safety zone as far as the water goes," he said.
"For that thing to do that, to climb out of water and go up to campsite definitely shows that that croc's been involved in human contact before."
Mr Pitman said Queensland was behind other states when it came to crocodile culling.
"Here in Australia they're doing it in the Northern Territory and Western Australia but they don't do it in Queensland.
"People have been complaining about this problem for that long it's not funny.
"In the Cairns area they're continuously having beaches closed up there due to crocs, the Environmental Protection Agency actually set up crocodile reserve habitats right in the middle of highly populated areas and so forth."
Dr Mark Read, the northern region conservation services manager for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said the QPWS was investigating whether fishermen and the illegal disposal of fish frames and bait, had been a stimulus to attract crocodiles.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11049400%5E1702,00.html
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION 12 October 04 Feeding may have led to croc attack, bushman says
A prominent bushman says the crocodile that attacked two people at a far north Queensland campsite yesterday may have been fed in the past by other campers.
A 34-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman are in a stable condition in hospital after being attacked at the campsite north-west of Cairns.
Les Hiddins is a member of a Vietnam Veterans group that regularly camps in the area after Long Tan day celebrations.
He says the reptile had to have a reason for going to the popular camp site.
"In this case it sounds pretty much to me like the croc has been hanging around there being fed over a long long period of time and it sort of went looking for more food," he said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200410/s1218149.htm
TERRANET (Beirut, Lebanon) 12 October 04 "Grab the baby": family tells how Australian granny wrestled with giant croc
The family of an Australian grandmother injured in a crocodile attack told reporters how the 60-year-old jumped on the reptile's back thinking a three-month-old baby was trapped in its jaws.
Alicia Sorohan tackled the 4.2 metre (13.8 foot) crocodile after it emerged from the sea and began dragging her friend Andrew Kerr, 34, from the beachfront campsite where he had been sleeping in a tent with his wife Di and baby son Kelly.
"The first thing Andrew yelled out was 'grab the baby' so I picked up the whole bassinette and then the crocodile started to drag Andrew out of the tent," Di Kelly told Channel Nine.
Bill Sorohan said he and wife were camping nearby when they heard their friends' screams. They rushed to investigate and Alicia leaped into action.
"She thought the croc had the baby, so she jumped on top of the croc and the croc actually bit right into her right arm," he said.
With his mother kicking the crocodile and attempting to gouge its eyes, the Sorohan's son Jason fatally shot the crocodile in the head with a rifle before it could drag her into the water and finish her off with the "death roll" characteristic of the saltwater species.
Sorohan suffered a broken arm for her heroics in distracting the crocodile. Kerr sustained a broken leg, arm and cuts and bruises.
The pair were airlifted from the site at Bathurst Bay in Queensland state, to a hospital at the town of Cairns, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) south, where they were reported to be stable.
The attack prompted crocodile hunter Mick Pitman to call for a cull of the protected species in Queensland state.
"We're 20 years behind everywhere else. Even in third world countries they actually put into practice sustainable wild harvesting of the animals to keep the population down," Pitman told Channel Seven.
He said beaches at Cairns, a popular spot for international tourists, were regularly closed because of the threat from crocodiles.
The aggressive saltwater crocodiles inhabit swamps and waterways throughout Australia's north. They can grow up to 7.0 meters (23 feet) in length and can weight more than a tonne.
Pitman said the crocodile must have had some familiarity with humans to launch such an aggressive attack on a campsite which was at least 20 metres (66 feet) from the water's edge.
"It usually doesn't climb out of the river or the ocean where it's in its own safety zone as far as the water goes," he said.
"For that thing to do that, to climb out of water and go up to a campsite definitely shows that that croc's been involved in human contact before."
There have been 14 confirmed fatal crocodile attack in Australia in the past 27 years, most recently a 22-year-old man taken in December 2003 as he waded in a river.
http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/PrintArticle.aspx?ArticleId=185265&ChannelId=1
