Let’s talk about a croc cull

CROCODILES are part of what makes the wilds of North Queensland such a drawcard for tourists who flock to the area to see our natural attractions.

But as with Townsville’s very successful shark drum line program, there should be better systems in place to prevent the exotic wildlife from getting too close for comfort.

Any long- term North Queenslander will agree that there are more crocodile sightings now than there have been in several decades.

Boat ramps in many of our fishing towns are now plagued with aggressive salties and a 4.7m giant was pulled from the shore at The Strand early last year.

“Jupiter” has become an attraction at Billabong Sanctuary now but in the months leading to his capture, our city was on red alert.

Beaches were regularly closed due to sightings and various grainy pictures and footage of the reptiles were captured off our main swimming area.

It has now been a long while since a croc sighting near swimmers in Townsville was reported, so it is easy to forget how harrowing those months were.

Now it appears a woman may have met her tragic end in the jaws of a crocodile in a waterway near Port Douglas.

The circumstances are still to come to light, but it appears this sad incident will be recorded as a fatal croc attack.

Unfortunately, any suggestion of controlling the population of large predators – be they crocs or sharks – is met with the usual howls of derision from environmentalists and conservationists.

They are quick to paint anyone who suggests the safety of paddling toddlers should trump the welfare of natural apex predators as a fauna- murdering savage. Who knows what the answer is. But the first step to finding a solution is establishing the grounds for an informed, reasonable and fair debate.

While the Katters and anyone in the North who supports a cull are howled down, the chances of solving this growing problem grow slimmer.