Croc Culling: Australia deliberates crocodile hunting permits to lower attacks

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Crocodiles have made a comeback in Australia after facing near-extinction in the 1970's. But their surge in numbers means more frequent and sometimes deadly attacks on humans. In Queensland, some lawmakers are calling for croc culling in order to crack down on attacks. Greg Navarro has more.

At Solar Whisper Wildlife Cruises in Far North Queensland, there are no guarantees that you will see a crocodile. But spend some time with owner David White on a cruise along the Daintree River and there's a good chance you'll come across one of these perfect predators.

"He's growing quite quickly that crocodile, he's going to be a big boy one day."

GREG NAVARRO DAINTREE RIVER "The possibility of being able to see a crocodile is not only a big tourist draw, it's also part of a huge economic driver for the region where tourism accounts for about a 3rd of the area's economy."

We spotted 3 crocs in less than 15 minutes along the river bank - one almost 3 and a half metres long - good for tour operators and a healthy sign that crocodiles have returned here from near extinction more than 4 decades ago.

MIKE LETNIC, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES "Crocodile numbers have increased massively since the 1970's when they were protected in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia."

There have also been an increasing number of encounters with human. According to the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, there have been 33 attacks since 1985, 11 of them have been fatal.

Some Queensland politicians want to allowing croc culling and safari hunting to better protect people. They claim certain beaches are no longer safe for swimming, and the increasing threat is hurting tourism.

DAVID WHITE, OWNER SOLAR WHISPER WILDLIFE CRUISES "Removing individual crocodiles does not make an area safer because another one is always going to come in and take its place, and unless you are going to go out and shoot them all which I very much hope is not going to happen - there is not commercial incentive for that anyway."

White and others are calling for better education to keep people safe. The Northern Territory, which is also dealing with an increasing croc population, has produced a safety video aimed at children. University of New South Wales Associate Professor Mike Letnic worked with the Northern Territory to help it develop a strategy to cope with a growing croc population. He says education alone is not enough.

MIKE LETNIC, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES "I think a more realistic solution is probably to set up tolerant zones and we have areas around population centres and we have areas around high recreation areas where we say we don't want to have any crocs here and we get rid of the crocs here and we focus our efforts there."

Because Letnic says, trying to seriously reduce croc populations in this vast and remote part of the country is unrealistic. And given the predators' prominence here today, it's an option that local economies cannot afford. Greg Navarro, CGTN, Daintree.