Queensland Croc Management Plan Changes After Deadly Attack

It looks like there will be a new plan to relocate troublesome crocodiles in Queensland:

QUEENSLAND has announced changes to its crocodile management plan despite the government being cleared of blame for two fatal attacks.

Sustainability Minister Andrew McNamara said a review into the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) program meant more rogue crocodiles would be removed and a research program would be axed.

The review was mounted after an anonymous whistleblower claimed the crocodile that killed Barry Jefferies in Cape York’s Lakefield National Park in 2005 and Arthur Booker at Cooktown last October were part of the EPA’s relocation program.

Mr McNamara said those claims had proven to be untrue.

The crocodile that had killed Mr Jefferies had been returned to its home after being trapped by flooding and the crocodile that killed Mr Booker had never been trapped by the EPA, he said.

Nevertheless, changes had been made with public safety in mind, he said.

The changes mean crocodiles will no longer be relocated as part of a research program designed by the late Steve Irwin.

Any reptiles in urban areas that are more than two metres long will be targeted for removal.

Aggressive salt water crocs in populated areas would be sent to a farm or zoo, as would those sighted south of the Boyne River, south of Gladstone.

A census of crocodile numbers will take place every three years.  [AAP]