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Katie Woolf spoke with Wildlife Ranger on the Crocodile Management Team Ian Hunt · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Mix one oh four point nine. It's seventeen minutes away
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: from eleven o'clock. And I'm sure you've seen these photos
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: floating around of this well, quite a massive for quite
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: a fat three point six meters saltwater crocodile in a
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: culvert on Gunpoint Road. Now it's actually in the same
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: spot where a dog was taken a few weeks ago.
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  Speaker 1: And joining us on the line to tell us a
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  Speaker 1: little bit more about what's unfolded over the last week
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: and I believe even from the weekend as well, when
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: another crocodile was captured in the same area. Is wildlife
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  Speaker 1: ranger on the Crocodile Management Team, Ian Hunt. Good morning
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  Speaker 1: to you, Ian. Let's try that again. Good morning, Ian.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. Thanks for having me on.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, thanks for joining us. Mate. Tell us a little
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  Speaker 3: bit more about this crocodile. Which was it captured yesterday?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct. Yeah, a three point six meter crocodile
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  Speaker 2: was removed from a trap that had been installed at
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  Speaker 2: that COVID yesterday morning.
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  Speaker 1: Goodness me tell us exactly where this colvit is and
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  Speaker 1: is it somewhere which.
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  Speaker 3: Is frequented pretty regularly by locals?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, it's a covit that's along Gunpoint Road, the
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  Speaker 2: new Gunpoint Road that's been bitch minsed up to up there,
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  Speaker 2: just the other side of how It Springs, And it
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  Speaker 2: is a very popular spot and has been for a
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  Speaker 2: number of years, with people pulling off there or washing
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  Speaker 2: their quad bites or even exercising their dogs or horses.
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  Speaker 2: So is a very popular spot and we're just trying
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  Speaker 2: to get the word out there that obviously we have
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  Speaker 2: removed two large crocodiles in the past four days, and
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  Speaker 2: that doesn't mean that there aren't any more crocodiles there.
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  Speaker 2: So I just want people to heed the warnings to
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  Speaker 2: be careful.
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  Speaker 1: Oh. Absolutely, So there was the three point six meter
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  Speaker 1: crokey yesterday and then on Saturday there was another three
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  Speaker 1: point five meter crocodile. And it follows on from a
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  Speaker 1: dog being taken there a few weeks ago too, or
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  Speaker 1: about a week ago or a couple of weeks ago
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  Speaker 1: as well, doesn't it.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. We were alerted to an incident about
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  Speaker 2: two weeks ago that a sadly a family pet was
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  Speaker 2: taken while it's been exercise up there at the location,
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  Speaker 2: and as a precaution, we put a trap in straight
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  Speaker 2: away to try and remove the offending crocodile. And since
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  Speaker 2: then we've removed, as you said, the two crocodiles since then,
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  Speaker 2: and as you say, that doesn't mean that area is
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  Speaker 2: now safe, and same with all colts across the NT.
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  Speaker 2: Really just everybody needs to be very careful and vigilant
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  Speaker 2: this time of the year. Crocodiles are on the move
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  Speaker 2: and they can be found in any waterway.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and Ian, is it a situation as well where
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  Speaker 1: you know, when we get a lot of rain, there's
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  Speaker 1: more about or they're able to move around a little
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  Speaker 1: bit more freely.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. They are able to move a lot
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  Speaker 2: more freely when there's this water. You know, we're coming
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  Speaker 2: out of the breeding season for the saltwater crocodiles. The
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  Speaker 2: females have all been laying their eggs and the males
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  Speaker 2: are now on the move and feeding up, you know.
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  Speaker 2: So we are seeing a lot more signings. People are
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  Speaker 2: reporting a lot more crocodiles, and we're very grateful for
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  Speaker 2: every bit of information that we get in the public
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  Speaker 2: giving us a call, because that helps us do our
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  Speaker 2: job and hope, hopefully keep the public a lot safer
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  Speaker 2: Now mate with.
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  Speaker 3: This area along Gunpoint Road.
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  Speaker 1: For those like myself who aren't overly familiar with it,
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  Speaker 1: can you sort of describe it for us?
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  Speaker 3: Is it a very I mean, is it a very
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  Speaker 3: big waterway?
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  Speaker 2: So the area where we've got the trapp installed isn't
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  Speaker 2: a massive waterway, So it's a concrete of colvit that
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  Speaker 2: goes underneath the Bitchumin Road. It's probably fifteen or twenty
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  Speaker 2: meters across. But that waterway flows into the Howard River,
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  Speaker 2: so crops can have access from Shoal Bay into the
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  Speaker 2: Howard River up through there. And at the other side
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  Speaker 2: of that you've got Colpinia Station as well, so there's
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  Speaker 2: also very large crocodiles on that side too, So it's
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  Speaker 2: an area where big crops are are and are being found.
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  Speaker 2: And just so we've removed two already and there's potentially
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  Speaker 2: more there.
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  Speaker 3: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: Now excuse my ignorance, but where do you take them
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  Speaker 1: when you capture them?
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  Speaker 2: So the animals are removed and taken to a farm
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  Speaker 2: that has the contract with us?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, right, So I mean that's a good thing.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously they're taken away and hopefully, you know, making things
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  Speaker 1: a little bit safer. But like you poured it out,
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  Speaker 1: you know throughout this interview. It doesn't mean that there's
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: not others around, and it's really a warning for everybody
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  Speaker 1: please be CROs wise.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly That's exactly the message we're trying to
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  Speaker 2: get across, Katie. We just want everybody to be safe.
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  Speaker 2: We don't want there to be any incidents. We want
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  Speaker 2: everybody to go home to their families at the end
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  Speaker 2: of the day. And we are seeing a lot of
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  Speaker 2: behavior that people are entering the water, swimming in the
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  Speaker 2: water and it's just not safe. So if we could
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  Speaker 2: just you know, be careful, it makes our lives a
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  Speaker 2: lot easier and hopefully everybody can go safe to their
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  Speaker 2: families at the end of the day.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's exactly right.
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  Speaker 1: And Ian, I know some people have been thinking, gee,
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  Speaker 1: how how can you not see a three and a
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  Speaker 1: half meter salty in the water, But the.
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  Speaker 3: Thing is they actually hide themselves pretty well. Also, that's right, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: I mean we've been down there to that location multiple
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  Speaker 2: times and conductive spotlight surveys to try and find these
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  Speaker 2: offending crocodiles and we haven't even seen them on nighttime
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  Speaker 2: surveys with spotlight and during the day. As you say,
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  Speaker 2: they can be absolutely anywhere, hidden in the shadow pool
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  Speaker 2: of water and you wouldn't even see them. So just
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  Speaker 2: people saying that they can see the bottom of a
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  Speaker 2: clear creek so that's safe, it's not. These animals can
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: move around undetected very easily.
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  Speaker 1: Goodness mate, Ian You've got one exciting job mate, you
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  Speaker 1: and the team that are on that Crocodile Management team.
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  Speaker 1: It'd keep you on your toes, that's for sure. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, busy time of year for us. Yeah, definitely a
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  Speaker 2: good job.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely well. I really appreciate you having your chat with
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  Speaker 1: us this morning. A wildlife ranger on the Crocodile Management Team,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Ian Hunt, thanks for your time.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me on, Katie. Thank you.