IT’S CROC A BLOCK
Cost of catch-and-keep strategy too high
Farmers warn they’re running out of room for rogue monsters
CROCODILE farmers are warning they will soon be unable to take rogue reptiles captured in the wild.
Queensland has 10 licensed crocodile farms but several already refuse animals removed under the state government’s crocodile management plan.
Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures group operations manager Michael O’Brien said territorial male crocodiles needed to be kept in separate enclosures with farms limited in space and finances.
“It all costs money and the government doesn’t provide any funding to private enterprises to help,” he said.
Crocodiles are farmed mostly for skin but wild males do not reach sexual maturity until 10 to 15 years old and are far less valuable than egg-producing females. They often must be fed and housed for years before a return on investment.
Mr O’Brien did not rule out culling as a means of keeping the population in check.
“My way of thinking is the government has to look at all the options,” he said.
“The removal of crocs for a number of years has been somewhat effective, but maybe we’re getting to the point where that won’t be sufficient.”
Former Hartley’s manager Geoff McClure said culling hurt the Far North’s eco-tourism brand.
He attributed stories of people swimming in the Mossman and Johnstone River decades ago to an “army of guys up here trying to wipe them out because their skin was worth a weeks’ wages” in the 1970s.
“If you wish to be successful in culling, it has to be an ongoing thing, you can’t just go and cull 100 animals and say we fixed the problem,” he said.
Melaleuca Crocodile Farm owner Juergen Arnold said his Mareeba business could accept 10-20 state government-removed crocodiles a year over the coming three years, due to major expansion plans.
The farm has taken in about 20 in the past 18 months.
“But, sooner or later, we will run out of space too. This can’t go on forever,” he said.
“Most of the crocs are midsized males and we have to keep them for about six or seven years before they become breeders.”
John Lever from Koorana Crocodile Farm near Rockhampton has been warning the Queensland Government for decades its removal schemes would fail.
“Eventually croc farms like ourselves and all the others will have enough males and won’t want any more,” he said.
“The government seems to think that, because they give us a croc, it’s a real asset.
“Sometimes it’s not – it’s a liability. Crocs taken out of the wild are sometimes superfluous to the needs of the farm.”
Mr Lever opposed a cull, opting instead for a capture-and-kill system after crocs were taken to farms.
“Eventually we need the same situation as the Northern Territory where crocs taken out of the wild, never to be returned, can be destroyed and used for skins.,” he said.