PLUS LIVING WITH DINOSAURS ON DAINTREE
Expert’s bond with ‘misunderstood’ reptiles
CROCODILES, one of the most prehistoric creatures known to man.
Most people are petrified of them, and for good reason. One snap and a roll into the deep and you can cancel those dinner plans forever.
But for wildlife expert David White, the opposite is true.
He’s developed such a kinship with these “misunderstood” dinosaurs that dozens now recognise his voice on his daily trips up and down the Daintree River.
“You definitely get to know them and their individual traits,” he said.
“They are understudied and very secretive animals and, like us, they have different personalities.”
He is now turning massive salties into superstars on the ancient river system, forming bonds that are unexplainable even to some government researchers.
One croc, Gump, was relocated to a crocodile farm in Mareeba after getting a bit too close to approaching boats. Mr
White paid the farm a visit weeks later, with the animal emerging from her pen the moment he called her name.
“Unfortunately the media hysteria does make people fear them, and that fear can turn to hate, and then people want to kill them,” he said.
“Clearly they can be very dangerous, but you do see a nurturing side.”
Take Bruce, a “blonde” female croc that has been loyally guarding her nest since November, for example.
She had 22 hatchlings last month and can still be seen protecting her babies – incredibly rare for crocodilians.
“She has been an amazing mum,” Mr White said, as he pulled his boat within metres of her.
“We think it’s her first time. “There is no way you would get this close in a different boat, but she knows me.”
Then there’s Scarface, the 4.7-metre “king of the river”, whose epic battles with Big Nick are becoming legendary.
Mr White’s crocodile soap opera “Days of the Daintree” has gathered a huge online following and includes regular cameos from Scuter, Lizzie, Nate, Dusty and Margaret.
“Giving them a character and educating people that way
can help remove the stigma surrounding crocs,” he said. “People respond to it.” Mr White, 58, was a carpenter fitting out commercial buildings in Sydney before the wilds of the Far North called 32 years ago.
He said swapping the Sydney Harbour for the Daintree Rainforest was the best decision he ever made.
“I have to pinch myself out here sometimes,” he said.
“We need to look after our crocs; they are a passion of mine.
“They just happen to be something most people don’t like.”