Territory Stories

Management program for the saltwater crocodile in the Northern Territory of Australia 2009-2013

Details:

Title

Management program for the saltwater crocodile in the Northern Territory of Australia 2009-2013

Creator

Fukuda, Yusuke; Delaney, Robyn; Leach, Gregory J

Issued by

Northern Territory. Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport

Collection

E-Publications; E-Books; PublicationNT

Date

2009-04

Description

The draft program is open for public comment to Friday 29 May 2009. Includes Summary document.

Notes

Date:2009-04; Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).

Language

English

Subject

Crocodylus porosus -- Northern Territory; Crocodiles -- Conservation -- Northern Territory; Crocodiles -- Control -- Northern Territory; Crocodiles -- Government Policy -- Northern Territory

Publisher name

Northern Territory Government

Place of publication

Darwin

Edition

Draft.

Format

60 pages : illustration, maps ; 30 cm.

File type

application/pdf

ISBN

9781921519260

Use

Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)

Copyright owner

Northern Territory Government

License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Related links

http://hdl.handle.net/10070/214159[Final Edition]

Parent handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/212633

Citation address

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/716134

Related items

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/716136

Page content

Draft Management Program for the Saltwater Crocodile in the Northern Territory 30 Objective 3 - To ensure humane treatment of Saltwater Crocodiles 4.6 Animal Welfare Wild adult C. porosus may be harvested using trapping and shooting, or by harpooning and shooting of crocodiles (Webb and Messel 1977). Harvesting and farming of C. porosus must be in accordance with the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act and with the Code of Practice. Compliance with the Code of Practice will be a condition of all permits issued to harvest and farm crocodiles. Compliance with the Code of Practice for harvests will be enforced by NRETAS and in the case of farms by RDPIFR staff. Farms will be inspected to ensure the animal welfare and biosecurity standards are met. An indication of a decrease in animal welfare standards or a suspected breach of the Animal Welfare Act will result in an inspection. Non-compliance with the Code of Practice may result in an infringement notice, the permit being revoked and/or prosecution. New crocodile farms have to meet the New crocodile farm assessment criteria which ensures that welfare standards are met. Existing farms have in the past met these criteria. All crocodile farms are visited by RDPIFR staff on a regular basis to monitor farm performance and ensure that welfare and veterinary conditions meet the standards set by the Code of Practice. Performance Indicators Ensure the requirements of the Code of Practice are a condition on all permits and that a copy of the Code is distributed to all new permit applicants. Ensure all successful permit applicants are competent to comply with the relevant animal welfare standards. Ensure all existing crocodile farms and any new crocodile farm meets the animal welfare standards. Inspect farms to ensure animal welfare and Biosecurity standards are met. Investigate and take appropriate action on any suspected breaches of the Animal Welfare Act on the Code of Practice. Objective 4 - To monitor and report on the impact of the harvest of Saltwater Crocodiles 4.7 Monitoring Population estimates The principal purpose of monitoring the wild population is to provide an objective means through which any serious general and local decline, due to any cause, can be detected in sufficient time to effect remedial action. The monitoring program proposed will meet that objective. In addition, the program allows rates of change of population size and structure to be quantified and assessed, thereby providing an objective basis for adjusting harvest levels as necessary. Details of the long-term population trends are shown in Appendix 3. Spotlight surveys over selected river systems within the Northern Territory (Figure 5) that provide indices of the density and size structure of crocodile populations are the standard method of monitoring for C. porosus (Messel et al. 1981; Stirrat et al. 2001). The surveys