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Saltwater crocodiles were almost hunted to extinction in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT). Now they’re thriving
It’s dawn on Darwin Harbour and government ranger Kelly Ewin – whose job is to catch and remove crocodiles – is balancing precariously on a floating trap.
Heavy rain clouds from the storm that has recently passed are overhead. The engine of the boat has been cut so now it’s mostly silent – that is, apart from the intermittent splashing coming from inside the trap.
“You get pretty much zero chances with these guys,” says Ewin as he attempts to loop a noose around the jaw of the agitated reptile.
We’re in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), home to an estimated 100,000 wild saltwater crocodiles, more than anywhere in the world.
The capital, Darwin, is a small coastal city surrounded by beaches and wetlands. And, as you quickly learn here in the NT, where there is water, there usually are crocs.
While most species of crocodile are harmless, the saltie is territorial and aggressive. Fatal incidents are rare in Australia, but they do happen.
Last year, a 12-year-old was taken – the first death from a crocodile in the NT since 2018.
This is busiest time of year for Ewin and his colleagues.
Breeding season has just started, which means salties are on the move.
His team are on the water several times a week, checking the 24 crocodile traps surrounding the city of Darwin.
The area is popular for fishing, as well as for some brave swimmers.
The crocodiles that are removed from the harbour are most often killed, because if they are released elsewhere, they’re likely to return to the harbour.
“It’s our job to try and keep people as safe as we can,” says Ewin, who’s been doing his “dream job” for two years. Before that, he was a policeman.
Farming, which was brought in when hunting was banned, has also become an economic driver.
It’s estimated there are now about 150,000 crocodiles in captivity in the NT.
Fashion labels such as Louis Vuitton and Hermès – which sells a Birkin 35 croc handbag for as much as A$800,000 ($500,000; £398,000) – have all invested in the industry.
The commercial incentives were effectively put in place to help people tolerate crocodiles, because we need a social licence to be able to use wildlife,” says Mick Burns, one of the NT’s most prominent farmers who works with luxury brands.
Mick Burns is also involved with a ranch in remote Arnhem Land, about 500km (310 miles) east of Darwin. There, he works with Aboriginal rangers to harvest and hatch croc eggs to sell their skins to the luxury goods industry.
One of the area’s Traditional Owners, Otto Bulmaniya Campion, who works alongside Burns, says more partnerships like theirs are crucial for ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities share in the financial benefits of the industry.
For tens of thousands of years, crocs have played a significant role in Indigenous cultures, shaping their sacred stories, lives and livelihoods.
“Not everyone is on board with farming as a practice – even if those involved say it helps with conservation.
Despite being social animals, they are usually confined to individual pens to ensure their skins are flawless – as a scrap between two territorial crocs would almost certainly damage a valuable commodity.
Everyone in Darwin has a story about these formidable creatures, regardless of whether they want to see them hunted in greater numbers or more rigorously preserved.
But the threat they continue to pose is not imagined.
“If you go [swimming in] the Adelaide river next to Darwin, there’s a 100% chance you’ll be killed,” says Prof Webb matter-of-factly.
“The only question is whether it’s going to take five minutes or 10 minutes. I don’t think you’ll ever get to 15 – you’ll be torn apart,” he adds, pushing up his trouser leg to reveal a huge scar on his calf – evidence of a close encounter with one angry female nearly forty years ago as he was collecting eggs.
He is unapologetic about what he calls the pragmatism of authorities to manage numbers and make money out of crocs along the way – a way of life that, in the near future at least, is here to stay.
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