Crocodile-hunting safaris to become the latest rage in Australia?

There are African hunting safaris, then there is the Australian version, which, if approved, will involve shooting saltwater crocodiles such as the one pictured above with high-powered rifles.

The country's Northern Territory government has included trophy crocodile hunting as part of a draft management plan. The hunting, it's believed, will create jobs and enterprise for indigenous people.

According to a story in the Australian newspaper, a proposed trial program would allow the killing of 25 crocodiles over the next five years. The crocodiles must measure 10 feet or more, rifles must be .30-caliber or higher, and shots must be to the head and at reasonably close range, to ensure a swift kill.

Geoff Fleming, a partner in Peter Davidson's Arnhem Land Hunting Safaris, told the Australian: "There's real interest out there in croc hunting because there's not too many trophy animals to hit up here; just buffaloes, banteng, pig, goats and a few samba deer.

"This could absolutely succeed, but 25 animals over five years isn't enough. I don't know where they get that figure from; it's silly. We're overrun with them."

There are about 80,000 crocodiles in the region. Naturally, animal rights groups oppose the plan.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: A saltwater crocodile emerges from the Adelaide river near Darwin in Australia's north. Credit: Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images

Crocodile numbers rise in south Florida, but at what risk to dogs?

These are scary times in South Florida--if you're a small dog or a dog owner and live near the coast.

That's because American crocodiles, once near the brink of extinction because of hunting and habitat loss, now flourish so at the tip of the Sunshine State that they've been downgraded from endangered to threatened status by the U.S. Fish  and Wildlife Service.

South Florida is the species' only U.S. habitat and it might be no coincidence that with crocodile numbers up to about 2,000, more dogs and other small pets are vanishing.

Chris Marin told the Associated Press that he's moving from a canal property south of of Miami after losing poodles named Spotty, Luna and Angel to an estimated 11-foot crocodile.

"When we first moved in, I even put a swing on a tree here for my kids to plunge into the canal," Marin said.

Florida has more than a million alligators, but crocodiles are establishing an increasingly ominous presence in brackish coastal areas, where habitat restoration and protection have allowed for a population boom.

There have been no documented attacks by American crocodiles on people (gators, on the other hand, are responsible for several each year). But their crocodilian relatives in Central America have attacked and killed people, so Floridians--and their canine companions--have just cause for concern.

--Pete Thomas

Photo by Associated Press

'Monster' crocodile severs head of 10-year-old girl in Philippines

Life sometimes takes an abrupt turn for the worse, and Outposts journeys to the Philippines for a sad and vivid example.

A 10-year-old girl paddling with a classmate to their floating school was decapitated by a crocodile after the creature capsized their canoe.

Both were en route to school on Agusan del Sur province's Mihaba Lake when a 23-foot crocodile bumped and flipped the boat, police said.

This happened Saturday but rescuers found the girl's headless body floating on the lake Tuesday.

The classmate had been rescued by a man escorting the pair in another boat. The attack prompted temporary closure of the school and the evacuation of local residents, according to the Associated Press story.

I've heard about crocodiles becoming aggressive and recall an incident years ago in Costa Rica, when a fisherman was attacked and actually consumed by a giant crocodile that struck after the angler dived into a river to free a snagged fishing line.

A Red Cross official said afterward: "People tried to help him, but every time they got close the crocodile went mad and they had to run for their lives."

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: The late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin and his wife, Terri, struggle with a 12-foot crocodile in 2002. Credit: Greg Barrett