Australia: Holiday crocodile hunts planned - UK Press Item

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: DAILY TELEGRAPH (London, UK) 15 February 00 Holiday crocodile hunts planned : Tourists should be given permits to hunt crocodiles to keep down numbers and create an economic boom in the far north of Australia, according to a mayor in the heart of reptile country, writes Barbie Dutter in Sydney. : Graham Elmes, of Cook Shire, northern Queensland, said yesterday that the need for a cull combined with the lure of big game hunting provided a solution to some of the region's most pressing problems. : He said the area was overpopulated with crocodiles, which were being pushed out of their normal habitat by development and were posing an increasing threat to humans. : Crocodiles were "just another commodity" that could be turned into an economic bonus for the shire, where many Aborigines are unemployed. : Jobs could arise, he said, from the need for guides and rangers as well as from the extra spending by tourists. : A Crocodile Committee has been set up to formulate plans for tourists to trap or shoot crocodiles, a proposal that would need approval by the state government before it could be implemented. Mr Elmes said the plans would not amount to open slaughter. : Surveys would be taken and culling permits would be issued only in areas where there was evidence that the crocodile population had exploded. : The proposal was immediately condemned by Leannie Mackie, the president of the Far North Environmental Council, who said crocodiles were protected in Queensland because their numbers were dwindling. : "To have tourists hunting them is outrageous," she said. :

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