Crocodiles swarming across northern Australia are heading for a victory — people are to be fined for getting in their way.

Abundant food supplies and a ban on hunting have led to an explosion in crocodile numbers, forcing frequent beach closures in the far northern city of Cairns. This week residents in Townsville, further south, were alarmed when crocodiles were sighted s w i m m i n g alongside the main thoroughfare of the city.

Now the state of Queensland’s new saltwater crocodile conservation plan proposes to fine swimmers caught in designated crocodile waters up to A$7,500 (£3,076).

The proposal is intended to give the crocodiles more space and limit their contact with humans. But capitulation to the crocodiles in the land that spawned the Crocodile Dundee films has not been welcomed by residents.

Bob Katter, an Independent MP in the national Parliament, ridiculed the plan. “It is a classic example of lateral thinking,” he said. “Instead of removing the crocs, they are going to remove the human beings.”

Commercial hunting of crocodiles was banned 32 years ago and many now believe that the ban has led to an explosion in crocodile numbers, combined with the ready availability of crocodile foods.

Mr Katter said yesterday: “Action needs to be taken to cull them and push them out of settled areas. Shoot the bastards. The people who tell us we can’t shoot them would die of fright if they saw one.”

Lindy Nelson-Carr, the Queensland environment minister, denied that the population of crocodiles had spiralled out of control and said that the state’s protection plan was a balanced approach to managing them.

“It is more likely that more people are visiting or moving into croc habitat, and so more people are noticing crocs,” she said, when publishing a conservation plan that would provide for fines for people found in crocodile habitat. Ms Nelson-Carr claimed that only about 30,000 saltwater crocodiles remained in the Queensland wilderness. Her figures were disputed by crocodile experts, who said that the numbers could be between 65,000 and 70,000.

Cathy Groundwater, who lives just south of Cairns, said yesterday that crocodiles had slowly colonised freshwater swimming holes that had been used for years by residents and tourists.

“I think crocodiles should be culled because they are not endangered,” she said. “I learnt to swim in this river, my kids learnt to swim here. It would be nice for my grandson to be able to, as well.”

Beat the croc

— If a crocodile comes at you on land, run in the direction away from the water. Any fit adult can outrun a crocodile over even short distances and they seldom go far from water

— If you cannot run away, try to take shelter in trees. Remember, though, that with a slow metabolism and a brain the size of a walnut a crocodile can guard the same spot for weeks without getting bored or hungry

— If attacked, fight back. Crocodiles have extremely tough skin, but their eyes and nostrils are weak points If the crocodile has you in its jaws, do not resist its movements. It will try to roll to twist off your limbs. Be ready to roll with it

Source: Medical Journal of Australia, Government of Australia

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