The Aussies with the job of trapping our deadliest predators, There’s always danger
Going head-to-snout with one of the planet’s deadliest predators is usually the plot of a horror movie – but for the Northern Territory government’s Crocodile Management Unit, it’s a Thursday. Literally.
Last Thursday was the day the team set out to see if they could track, trap and transport a massive 4.5-metre saltwater crocodile that had been getting a little too close to the Nauiyu community on the Daly River, in the Katherine region of the Top End.
The team, led by veteran croc wrangler Tom Nichols and aided by police, set a trap in the river on Thursday – and by Saturday the big beast was on its way to a crocodile farm.
Mr Nichols told nine.com.au that even though everybody involved in the situation was well-trained, there was no guarantee of safety when coming up against this kind of apex predator.
“There’s always an element of danger,” he said.
“You have to be careful, but everyone’s trained and they know what they have to do.”
Mr Nichols has been tracking and trapping crocodiles in the NT for 40 years, becoming part of the Crocodile Management Unit when it was established 23 years ago
