Kakadu National Park is home to both species of Australian crocodile.
There is the relatively small and rather timid Freshwater Crocodile (Crocodylus johnstoni) which is generally considered harmless to humans. “Freshies” thrive on a diet of insects, frogs, fish, crustaceans, generally small stuff they can get down their narrow throat, and are usually found in the upper regions of tidal rivers, billabongs and creeks, right up into the stone country.
Attacks on humans are rare and usually only occur when these shy animals are provoked by those rather inconsiderate individuals who feel the need to crowd or annoy them.
The other crocodilian calling Australia home is the infamous Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
While you would expect “Salties” to inhabit the coastlines, mangrove mud-flats and tidal sections of rivers of tropical Australia, as their name suggests, they can also be found in freshwater billabongs and wetlands and all the way up in the headwaters of our freshwater streams — and sometimes even in the plunge pools under Kakadu’s waterfalls.
Make no mistake!
Estuarine Crocodile
Expect to come across this cunning stalker in any body of water connected with the tidal rivers of Australia’s tropical north, whether permanently or only temporarily during wet season flooding. And only because you can’t see them while you’re fishing — with the water of the East Alligator River up to your knees at Cahill’s Crossing — doesn’t mean there aren’t any!
Right now you’re probably wondering why we’re asking you to bring your bathers on tour — and I’ve probably got some explaining to do…
Rest assured, if there was only the slightest risk of a hungry saltie lurking in the shallows, we wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the water!
One of the reasons why we can’t predict in March when Top End Explorer Tours will actually be able to visit Gunlom and Maguk in the early dry season and Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls hopefully following soon after is that we have to wait for the completion of the mandatory crocodile surveys in the dedicated crocodile management zones.
Kakadu National Park staff involved in crocdile management take their job very seriously. And it’s a good thing they’re taking their time with it!
Crocodile management in Kakadu serves two purposes. While it is aimed at minimising the risk of crocodile attacks on humans, it is also supposed to ensure the protection of crocodile populations at the same time.
Crocodile Warning
To start with, rangers might visit the sites by helicopter, even before they have road access after a wet season that usually leaves the 4WD tracks with bad washouts and in need of repair. Crocodiles can easily be spotted in the clear water of the creeks and plunge pools from the air. It gives the rangers an idea of how many Estuarine crocodiles (or “Ginga”, as they’re called in the local Aboriginal languages) have made the journey up the swollen rivers during the wet season and how many Freshwater crocodiles have remained in their habitat.
Once the roads have been fixed, large baited traps will be brought in and positioned. The bait, usually a pigs leg, is attached to the trap door via a rope. When a croc swims in and takes the bait — bingo!
It will then be removed and taken either to a crocodile farm in Darwin or to one of the local communities as a food source.
Rangers use large spotlights during night time surveys to detect the reflective pairs of eyes of crocs that have been avoiding the traps.
They also regularly check the banks for slide marks and fresh tracks, they’re on the lookout for floating carcasses and they also use their noses:
Salties sport a very fishy, pungent smell from a gland on the back their necks — a dead giveaway!
These checks usually take several weeks and only when the final surveys return no indication at all of Ginga in the area, travellers will be allowed to visit Kakadu’s beautiful waterfalls.
Don’t expect to see any official stamps of approval reading “guaranteed crocodile free swimming spot”! There are reasons why these days we’re not permitted to swim up Twin Falls gorge anymore and we stay away from the water’s edge at the Jim Jim Creek crossing.
But salties aren’t any good at rock climbing and therefore we know quite a few swimming spots they won’t conquer!
A lot more is to be said about Kakadu’s crocs, so watch this space!
In the meantime, we’d love to read your comments!
Boh boh
Anja
