Conservation of crocodiles

In the Northern Territory (NT), saltwater and freshwater crocodiles are protected by law.

This means you can't take or interfere with a crocodile without a permit.

Permits may be given to ranger groups, shires or land managers to trap or shoot problem crocodiles where there is:

• a clear need to do so and
• there is no other alternative.

You may also be able to get a permit to take eggs and crocodiles from the wild.

Each year up to 90,000 eggs and 1,200 live crocodiles are allowed.

Read more about permits to take or interfere with wildlife or conversation of saltwater and freshwater crocodiles below.

Saltwater crocodiles

The saltwater crocodile was once almost extinct in the 1970s but is now widespread in large numbers and is no longer considered threatened.

Saltwater crocodiles have ecological and cultural value, but they are also a management challenge due to different opinions on their place in the wild.

They are spiritually important to some Aboriginal communities and a Territory icon, but they are also a dangerous predator.

The NT Government's Management Program for the Saltwater Crocodile helps the NT use and look after these animals.

Read more about the Management Program for the Saltwater Crocodile.

Freshwater crocodiles

The freshwater crocodile is found only in northern Australia, where it lives in rivers, lagoons and billabongs, largely upstream and away from the coast.

Freshwater crocodiles have an important cultural value with residents and visitors.

They like sandy substrates in areas where river channels cut through escarpments and plateaus, and sands, loams and other friable substrate in freshwater wetlands. This reflects their need for soils to dig a nest-hole to bury their eggs.

Threats

The current threats to freshwater crocodile numbers are poisoning by cane toads, the effects of climate change and displacement by increasing numbers of saltwater crocodiles.

Climate change may become a more significant threat to crocodile habitat through changes in sea levels, hydrology and saltwater intrusion.

Harvesting freshwater crocodiles

A small number of freshwater crocodiles are harvested each year.

The skins of freshwater crocodiles are less valued than those of saltwater crocodiles.

The larger scale size and osteoderms (bone deposits) in the skin of freshwater crocodiles make them harder to use commercially.