More people were killed by crocodiles in the Northern Territory in 2014 than any other year since records began, and there will be more deaths, a wildlife ranger says.
Saltwater crocodiles killed four Territorians this year, which is almost one-fifth of the total 21 people killed since 1974.
A 12-year-old boy was snatched by a croc while swimming with friends at a billabong in Kakadu on Australia Day, while in June a 62-year-old man was killed while washing out a bucket off the back of his boat on the South Alligator River in Kakadu.
In August, a 22-year-old man on the Tiwi Islands disappeared, with police finding biological remains in the stomach of a crocodile shot shortly afterwards.
And also in August, a 57-year-old man who waded into the Adelaide River to unsnag a fishing line was fatally attacked by a rare, well-known albino-headed crocodile called Michael Jackson. “This is the highest number of fatalities in one year since it’s been recorded,” NT wildlife ranger Tom Nichols told AAP on Wednesday.
Most of those deaths were due to negligence in crocodile-infested waters, he said, and it was possible residents were becoming complacent, with more people out on the waterways, and high crocodile numbers.
“We’re trying to get the CrocWise message across as best as possible, but unfortunately we will get another (death), we just don’t know when,” Mr Nichols said.
“Stay away from the water, don’t put your hands near the water, use hooks or nets to retrieve fish from the water.
“When you’re fishing from the banks stay five metres back from the water’s edge, don’t have your camp close to the water.”
This year the NT crocodile management team removed 287 saltwater crocodiles from NT waterways, up from 226 last year.
Three-quarters were trapped in Darwin Harbour, with two over four metres long.
But Mr Nichols hosed down speculation about a cull, saying it was a decision to be made by the federal government, which listed saltwater crocodiles as a protected species in 1971.
It could negatively impact the NT crocodile industry, which is worth about $20 million per year, he said, and could lull people into a false sense of security.
