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 58 Shooting of crocodiles may only be carried out using a centre-fire rifle of not less than 0.30 calibres. A telescopic sight must be used during the hunt and the shot should not be fired from a distance of more than 50 m from the quarry. Shooting must only be carried out in environmental conditions that allow an unobstructed view of the quarry when the shot is fired. Crocodiles cannot be shot while they are in the water. The entire body of a crocodile must be above the watermark before a shot is discharged. The shot must be delivered to the cranial platform of the head. Conditions at the time of shooting must also allow a high probability of recovery of the carcass to obtain the skin/head trophy. To ensure a humane kill, the guide must at the time of shooting have arms to shoulder and provide a back-up shot in the event that the crocodile is wounded by the clients shot. 6. Monitoring of safari hunting Crocodiles taken under the safari hunting quota must, on capture, be marked by a PWSNT skin-tag and CITES tag to identify the animals as being taken legally under an approved management program. Safari operators will be required to keep true and accurate records of their activities, including who was involved in the hunt, the exact location of the hunt and the sex and total length of the crocodiles taken. Safari operators are required to submit the records of each hunt to PWSNT within 21 days of completing a hunt. Skins and skulls taken as trophies must be presented to wildlife officers for inspection before a Northern Territory export permit is issued. The location of inspection points will be provided on the permit. The client cannot apply for a CITES export permit without a Northern Territory export permit issued by PWSNT. At the time of presentation of skins, the method of destruction will be verified to ensure that operators have complied with the permit conditions and animal welfare standards. 7. Performance indicators to assess the success of the trial safari hunting program The principal performance indicators to be considered will be: Level of compliance with specified methods of take is at or near 100%. Views of stakeholders including landholders, safari hunters and the general community on the operations and financial benefits of the trial safari hunting program have been sought and assessed. The compliance program, including management of permits and inspections of safari operations and trophies, is adequate to evaluate the level of compliance. The size structure of the Northern Territory crocodile population was not significantly affected by safari hunting, as determined through survey data. 8. Reporting on safari hunting The PWSNT will provide the Australian Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts with a report on the operations of the safari hunting program each year. The report will provide the following information: The number of animals taken, the size and sex of each animal and the locations from which they were taken. An assessment of compliance with the methods of take specified in the management plan.