Entsch backs calls for reptile egg harvest
DECADES have passed since Warren Entsch last wrestled a crocodile but the Leichhardt MP still knows a few things about reptile management.
The former crocodile catcher and farmer has backed calls for the legalisation of egg harvesting in Queensland and a strictly limited trophy hunting industry that could pull in a $250,000 direct and indirect spend per kill.
He said Far North crocodile farms would inevitably soon reach capacity and turn back aggressive males captured in the wild.
“They are of little or no value in croc farms because you can’t put anything else with them,” he said. “And their longevity means you could be keeping them for 50 years.”
Mr Entsch said the Northern Territory already had legal provisions to kill up to 600 animals a year but trophy hunting proposals had been repeatedly rejected.
“It’s usually driven by Australia Zoo opposing it,” he said.
“My own ministers as well. That’s us not doing what is in the best interest of the community.
“They are abrogating their problem to the farms and basically saying you have to set up these geriatric crocodile facilities where you look after them forever.
“Steve Irwin was a good friend. I knew him since he was a young fellow and his dad and I were good mates.
“But we were very much in disagreement over that philosophy.
“The crocodile is a prehistoric survivor with a brain the size of a walnut.
“They know how to survive and breed, but they do not have the capacity to have an emotion.
“This nonsense thinking they will ever be able to integrate with people is exactly that.”
He scoffed at Kennedy MP Bob Katter’s calls for shooting safaris in Queensland.