Dear MEL Topic Readers,
To conserve or cull? Life in Australia's crocodile capital
Crocodiles are large, cold-blooded reptiles that live in tropical regions. The most aggressive one is the saltwater crocodile that lives in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. As their skins were valued and traded freely, their population fell to around 3,000 in Australia’s Nothern Territory (NT) before hunting was banned in 1971. Now, NT, whose population is just around 250,000, is home to 100,000 wild saltwater crocodiles. Darwin, the capital city, is a small coastal city surrounded by beaches and wetlands inhabited by many crocodiles. Crocodiles are silent, ambush hunters that sit, watch, and wait. If you swim in Darwin Harbor or the Adelaide River nearby, the chances for survival are 10 or 15 minutes at most. As they still are a protected species, how does the local government protect people from these massive, aggressive hunters? Also, their skins are highly valued and traded for luxury accessories. How are the skins of protected species openly traded?
Read the article and learn about the largest living reptiles in Australia.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2v14vxdjeo
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