Hi
In northern Australia we live and work around crocodiles - the larger estuarine or salt water crocodile. Actually calling them saltwater crocs is quite misleading as they can happy living in fresh water. We regularly see them on the fresh water floodplain at Croker Island.
Hunting crocs was not regulated back in the early days so by the 1970s their numbers were quite low which prompted a ban.
In the NT croc numbers have been managed by a regulated croc egg harvesting program. These collected eggs are then incubated and then the crocs are grown out in croc farms. They are then sold - the meat goes to restaurants and their hides go to the fashion industry.
On Croker Island there has not been any legal egg harvesting so their numbers are increasing. Crocs come in all shapes and sizes. Below is lighter coloured female.
And then darker coloured male - males are much larger than females.
The same croc - close up head only photo.
They generally move slowly however this can be deceptive, if needed they can move very quickly over a short distance.
Below a series of three photos - now I can see you.
Now I can see you better ........
Now I can see you really well .....
Below a large male croc. Note the flap at the back of the mouth. While under water this remains closed to prevent water flooding in. When a croc needs to eat something, this flap must open so it has to come out of the water during the swallowing process. This croc also has a lot of broken and damaged teeth. Males are territorial so have to fight to maintain their patch.
In the photo below, the croc is eating a fish while in the water - however it is a bit tricky as he has to arch his back, pushing his belly down while the head and tail come up, making sure his head stays above the water while swallowing.
On our floodplain it is not uncommon to see a horse carrying a wound like this one - caused by a crocodile. This horse got away to fight another day. However, there must be many foals that don't make it each year.
This big male was enjoying some sun on a beach as the rangers approach in the boat. Shortly after this photo was taken, he turned and quickly returned to the safety of the water - and disappeared.
This large male was observed from the coast. He was quite happy to hang around and observe the ranger's movements.
Crocodile experts say that crocs would not normally attack humans - if their food chain had not been interfered with. Due to a combination of over fishing and crocs numbers increasing, they are being observed in places where they have not been seen and they all still need to eat.
Some of you may have heard of Matt Wright - the famous Outback Croc Wrangler. Matt and a couple of other people are facing criminal charges related to a helicopter crash while collecting croc eggs in early 2022. Helicopter based croc egg collecting involves the collector being in a basket slung under a helicopter. The helicopter lowers the basket onto a crocodile nest. The female croc is usually not far away and can get rather cranky. In response to the above accident, NT Work Safe have banded all helicopter crocodile egg collecting operations while the court action and a Work Safe review run their course. Hopefully this does not take too long as we already have enough crocs.
Until next time, take care.
Bryan and Nancy
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