Here be monsters! - Broome, Western Australia

8/10/2019 Here be monsters! - Broome, Western Australia

1/4


2/4

4 | www.fishingwa.com 5www.fishingwa.com |

luck with the footprints? we asked.

Shed found one footprint about 30

metres out from the lookout, but was

having trouble locating the set further

along the rocks. A few more people were

on the rocks now and we walked along to

the area directly down f rom the lookout.

Ignoring the crowds scouring the tide line,

we clambered over to an area of rocks not

so far out from the site of the lookout.

Aha! Got em! Embedded in the still-

About fifty metres across the rocks,

we came upon the other set of footprints.

Arranged in a line, it appears that the

dinosaur was on the run when it passed

this way. People jostled for position to have

their feet snapped alongside the footprints.

They look like giant chook prints to

me, more than one person observed. This

fossil set was a bit harder to see, a little

more eroded and covered by sediment and

weeds. After taking our own photos, we

climbed back up the rocks to the lookout

at the foot of the lighthouse.

A small plaque at the lookout briefly

details the location of the footprints and

their ancient pedigree. We took time to

read the interpretation signs wed skipped

on the way down. These footprints are

difficult to find and can only be seen

at very low tide. Conditions can be

treacherous and visitors are not encouraged

to seek out the footprints.

A faux-print sits nearby, replicated in

pindan-tinted concrete. There used to

be some pr ints up here, yknow. Before

someone nicked them. One of the

local fellas was there with his kid, who

clambered happily all over the replica print,

just as pleased as if it were the real thing.

Our brush with monsters from times

past sparked a desire to meet with some of

their modern day descendants.

Australian saltwater crocs (Crocodylus

porosus) prowl the north of Australia with a

known range extending from Townsville in

the east, to Port Hedland in the west. More

properly known as estuar ine crocodiles,

salties can be found anywhere from the

open sea to freshwater rivers and pools

many kilometres inland. Their smaller

cousins, freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus

johnstoni) or freshies, are similarly spread

wet rocks, partially obscured seaweed and

sand, were the pointy-toed imprints of

Megalosauropus Broomensis. The theropod

dinosaur responsible for these footprints

is thought to have been carnivorous, been

around two metres high at the hip and to

have roamed the area during the Cretaceous

period. Excited by our success, and lucky to

have found them for ourselves, we quickly

snapped away at the fossils before dozens of

people descended on the site.

across the Top End, but are predominantly

found in freshwater bodies.

Estuarine crocs live wild in the Broome

region, and holiday-makers spending time

near the ocean or along rivers would do

well to learn a little about their behaviour

before pitching their tents within walking

distance of water.

Crocdiles are known from fossil records

dating back 200 million years, giving

them a good 70 million years head start

on the footprints we saw at Gantheaume

Point. There are 22 species of Crocodylids

worldwide, many of which are endangered.

Australias estuarine crocodiles are the

largest of these, with some males reaching

seven metres in length.

Fortunately for curious tr aveller, both

salties and freshies can be safely observed from

within the confines of the Malcolm Douglas

Crocodile Park on Cable Beach Road.

We enter the park just prior to 3pm,

shortly before the daily saltie feeding

tour. We used this extra time to get our

bearings within the park. Beyond the

entry and gift s hop is a covered area

for watching educational videos and a

number of crocodile enclosures. Malcolm

is a real character, not to mention TV star

and the previous editor of this magazine,

Mark Jones, was his right hand man and

cinematographer before starting on the

Fishing WA series.

Slight looking ring-lock fences with

a rusty, reddish tinge that I hoped was

imparted by the pindan dirt encircled the

muddy looking ponds. No crocodiles were

immediately obvious. It was hot, and the

few sprinklers drizzling water onto the

ochrous earth did little to combat the dust.

There were quite a few people around,

eating icecreams and patiently waiting for

the tour to begin.

I strolled across to the alligator

enclosure. Beady-eyed and vaguely alien

looking, the alligators sprawled in the shade,

thick-skinned and oblivious to the flies

landing on their hides.

Walking back past one of the estuarine

croc enclosures, I noticed that someone had

thoughtfully created a breach in the ring-

lock and labelled it camera hole. I could

have sworn I just walked past a sign that said

Crocodiles are Dangerous. Crocodiles can

jump. Keep hands outside of pens at all times!

Most surfaces here have some sort

of signage on them. Even the bird cage

dn becme relaxed, becaue

ere meing in e waer, prbabl

rin a ea a.

thIs PAGE: Lunging frewaer crc cac a few ra, unaware am are deined end up a lvel e and andbag verea

W: ta waer an beened fr 20 ear a if ud aner rean n g frle!te m dangeru crcdilerc u can ee I guee oK?

f a C t B o x

Fr exreme lw ide dae r mre general

infrmain n Brme, cnac e Brme

Viir Cenre.

Phn:(08) 9192 2222

em: [email protected]

Wb:www.brmeviircenre.cm.au

Mre deail regarding e Malclm Dugla

Crcdile Park can be bained b calling

(08) 9192 1489.


3/4

6 | www.fishingwa.com 7www.fishingwa.com |

comes with a warning: WATCH OUT,

THEY BITE. The corellas inside

squawk incessantly, apparently thirsty f

or tourist blood.

We are summoned to a giant fibreglass

crocodile for the star t of the tour. This

has a sign on it too; DO NOT CLIMB

ON CROCODILE. It

is here we meet our tour

guide, John. Shaven head

glistening in the heat, he

rests his hat on the fibreglass

beast and welcomes us with

a brief history lesson, and a

few guidelines on behaving

ourselves within the park.

Absolutely nothing should

be held over the fences; no

cameras, no videos, no children

for a better look. To a crocodile,

my arm with a chicken in it /

your arm with a camera in it, they look

exactly the same to them.

They splash a little bit too. Ill be

demonstrating how they attack using a

float, and sometimes when we do that, they

may splash their tails around a bit. If you

look at the water, you will notice that its a

bit green, slimy and smelly. Definitely dont

get the water in your mouth, as we havent

changed it in about twenty years.

We wander across to the freshwater

croc pen, where a mob of freshies are lazily

lounging on the banks of their enclosure.

Many of them sit with their mouths open,

elongated snouts agape. Unlike estuarine

crocs, these little fellas are not territorial, and

will happily co-habit with their own kind.

Sixty percent of their diet is insects,

also some fish, some water birds, turtles,

amphibians and small mammals. They dont

attack people, however anything small

hanging around the waters edges is probably

going to get snapped. Be a bit careful with

your little silky terrier. Dont leave your baby

lying around on the waters edge either, as

theyd definitely have a crack at it.

We move on to a different pen. The

most dangerous crocodile is the croc you

cant see. John chucks a battered looking

black plastic ball on a rope into a small,

apparently empty pond. In a blur of scales

and slime, a four metre male saltie explodes

from the pool and punches a f ew extra

holes in the plastic lure, before sinking back

into the sludge. The waterhole itself is only

about four metres long.

The crocodiles here are fed once a

week, depending on the season. Cold

weather interferes with their digestion,

so they tend to eat less in the dry. I note

another sign strapped to the ring-lock:

Food dead chickens. During the wet

season, crocodiles eat only one or two

chickens per week. At times the crocodile

will not eat the chicken and not allow us to

remove it from the p ond (attacking poles,

hooks, etc.). Every effort is made each

morning to remove uneaten chickens.

John bangs a tin at the side of the

enclosure. Anyone having chicken tonight?

I dont eat chicken anymore.

A big, old croc sits lazily in the sun.

This is Happy, folks. Hes around 4.5m

long, from Timber Creek in the Nor thern

Territory. Hes called that because w hen

they caught him, he didnt put up much of

a fight. He crawled up on a boat ramp and

wouldnt get off. Unfortunately, he was in

the wrong spot at the w rong time; in the

middle of a fishing competition, and youd

hardly want to put your boat in the water

with Happy lazing around on the ramp, so

he had to come here. I wouldnt call him

docile, but hes quite a relaxed crocodile.

What Im holding in my hand here

is about a quarter of a chicken, and hell

probably eat a couple of pieces like that. He

gets fed once a week and in the dry season

they dont eat much, and in fact they lose a

little bit of weight. Because theyre a reptile

and theyre cold blooded, if they get too

cold and its below 29 degrees, they cant

digest food so they wont eat it.

Wet season however, their metabolisms

working beautifully; thats when they do

all their growing, and of course theres a

lot more food around in the wet. John

turfs the chicken carcass in Happys general

direction. He latches onto it, and starts

munching away.

Youll see when he eats that he doesnt

chew much. Theres no chewing action or

swallowing action, they gravity feed. When

they eat, their head has to be up and out of

the water or theyll drown.

We come to a smaller 3.5m saltie. This

is Felix, only a little fella (!) but dangerous.

Felix belches indelicately and curiously

eyes the children standing in front of me as

our guide continues his talk. The little boy

directly in front of me is leaning up against

the fence, with his fingers wrapped around

the ring-lock. I prise him off and shift him

away from the fence before the crocodile

gets any ideas. One of the other children

pipes up. John smiles at him. He looks

hungry? Youd better stand back then he

likes kids in yellow shirts.

We move on to the crocodile nurser y.

John fetches one of the juvenile monsters.

We breed and produce about 1000 of

these every year, for meat and also for skin.

Crocodile is fairly hard to get, in fact in this

country, supply does not meet demand. The

meats a by-product and unfortunately for this

little fella, estuarine crocodile skin is highly

sought after in Europe. Its extremely soft

give him a little pat see how soft he is?

The young crocodile expresses at such

handling by attempting to relieve himself

on John. A small child immediately asks

if he can pat it. I shake paws with the

miniature monster. He eyes me without

expression, possibly contemplating what I

might taste like.

We look at a male and female crocodile

who have been placed in adjacent pens.

Were trying to mate up a couple up

the other end. Weve had them fenced off

for almost six months, simply so theyll

get to know each others smell and what

they look like. Hopefully when we release

them, hell make love to her, not eat her.

You never know with male crocodiles. Its

survival of the fittest, and they just worry

about one thing, and thats looking after

themselves.

Onward to rather happily named

compatriot. This is Terror hes from the

Ord River, near Kunnunara. He came out

of the water and started munching on the

back of an aluminium boat. He would

have seen the boat as a bit of a threat or

intruder on his territory.

That boat was used each day on

the river, taking people to work and it

was attacked one night when they were

actually out of the boat when it was up on

dry docks. That didnt worry the people

though, they went on strike. They werent

going to work any more, not in that boat

anyway. He was caught fairly quickly

and transferred here. Terror makes rude

burbling noises and sloshes about

In a blur f cale and lime, a fur-mere male alie

explde frm e pl and punce a few exra le

in e plaic lure, befre inking back in e ludge.

thEsE PAGEs: Ju prve enrerner are mad, e ne and nl

hair Dg call fr a lcal crc fr a freeandu al ne inrepid Mark Jnew pu i and up lm e wleing fr Fiing WA (and we didn ue i!)


4/4

8 | www.fishingwa.com

a bit in the mud.

Just about every single croc attack has

happened in or close to the waters edge,

where weve crouched down and made

ourselves a little target. If Im standing next

to this little lass here, you can be sure hell

grab her first hell take the easiest prey

animal every time. If youre going north,

deep into crocodile country, make sure you

take someone smaller than yourself as a bit

of insurance.

Dogs are good - theyve all got dogs

up there in the Kimberly, and youll notice

that none of them are very old. No, we

love dogs and they do too. They can smell

them very, very easily. One of the first signs

youve got a rogue crocodile is that you

lose your pet dog.

Around seven out of ten crocodile

attacks involve alcohol thats not the

crocodile drinking, of course, its the person

swimming around. It gets hot and sticky up

here and its good to have a beer but not

too many folks dont become too relaxed,

because theres something in the water,

probably tryin ta eat ya!

The last part of the tour involves some

crocodile aerials, with a large saltie leaping

well clear

of the

water to

snatch a

chicken

from the

end of the

pole. Half

the crowd look suitably shaken.

John concludes the tour with a few

cautionary words. We need to respect

that when we go into the bush, it is their

territory. Camp well back from the water, at

least fifty metres. Dont return to the same

spot on the river, dont follow animal tracks.

The tour ends, and most of the crowd

disperses. I ask if the popular ity of The

Crocodile Hunter has had much of an

effect on peoples behaviour within the

park. He laughs.

Ive had the odd one give the

indication that he thinks hes a bit of a

crocodile hunter. Once they see a croc

slam into the ball, most of them dont

want to go anywhere further north! Id

say most people are terrified by the time

they leave. Thats not our aim, of course,

but we try to maintain a barrier between

us and the crocodiles. Were always telling

people that theyre a dangerous animal and

not something to be mucked around with.

I know a bit about them, but you learn

something every day.

We dont know a lot about them

basically; not a lot of money goes into

crocodile research; theyre not furry or

cuddly and they eat people. Our message is

to stay away from them, leave them alone

to their own little devices. Its surprising

when we get a few people who ask why

dont we shoot them all? Well, why dont

we shoot everything else that bites us, and

then therell be nothing left! He shakes his

head in disbelief. Evolution!

So if you make it to Broome, and I

suggest you do, dont just buy pearls and

have a fish, try to spend at least one day

walking in the footsteps of dinosaurs.

embddd n h -w ck,

py bcd by wd

nd nd, w h pny-d

mpn Mgp

Bmn

A bab crc fund in e ord River (buwere i mum lk u beind u!)

Documents

Here be monsters! - Broome, Western Australia