Yes that is completely true population or you chance of encountering a dangerous animal obviously has a huge effect on how many people will be killed by that particular animal. Their are also differences between poor 3rd world nations and a 1st world nation in Australia that would prevent many deaths from animal attack. But still the fact remains even if Australia was a poor 3rd world nation and had similar population densities as Africa and Asia...they still only really have 1 dangerous large endemic animal that can go onto land.( crocodile) as oppossed to numerous for both Africa and Asia
I would not agree with that. Elephants populations are growing tremendously in fact they probably will have to cull Elephants sooner or later as well as their are just to many of then. Elephants population in Africa( In Asia this isn't true) are growing much like Salties in Australia. As for Nile Crocs...I wouldn't say they are decreasing either..In certain regions sure, but in others they are doing okay and in the national parks they are doing fine. They are listed as "least concern" and in some regions are very big and aggressive animals..with very little fear of humans. Hippos are slightly declining but their are 120-150 thousand left and in the parks they are fine. Both Hippos and Nile Crocs cause significant danger to the people who coexist with them
And that was my point..If people in Africa/Asia can coexist with a whole host of different large dangerous animals surely people in the NT can find a way to coexist with Salties
Lions are on the decline in numbers..but still they are easily spotted and have very healthy populations in many national parks and they kill many people each year and will be fine. Of course tigers are in dire trouble and may become extinct in the wild soon if drastic action is not taken.
For Bears I don't know about their overall population. I would assume they are doing alright. Bears are not dangerous to people like Big Cats are through. Surprise encounters with Mothers and Cubs constitute most attacks and bears can coexist with humans alot better than crocs and lions can. Their was a nut case who used to camp( by himself) in Katmai National Park with hundreds of bears each year...including being feet away from fights/mothers with cubs, bears fishing etc...and their was no real incident. After 13 years of doing this...him and his girlfriend were eventually killed and eaten by an old/weak male bear that was struggling to survive and it was a bear that they had never seen before and didn't know....
here is info on the guy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell
Now picture what would happen if someone camped out with a pride of lions or right by a crocodile infested river...They wouldn't survive 2 weeks let alone 13 years( he would go from April to september/october for 13 years)
The fact that they are increasing in size...indicates to me that they are finally recovering from the over hunting that took place until the 70s. If an animal is increasing in size...that means it is recovering from hunting or a significant increase of food in the area. For me that is a good thing. Dwarfism is a huge problem for many animals and I am glad that more large crocs are being found like in the past. The number increase is a problem, but why would you want smaller crocs?
Well I mean they could hunt problem animals...animals that turn up in unsuspecting and unwanted areas where they threaten people. This would ensure that the most dominant animals( which from what you guys have said) live in the major river systems far away from people are left alone and not hunted and the ones that move off into areas near people can be hunted. I mean it would not be the ideal thing to do but if their population is really that absurdly high I would prefer that over culling.
I mean the alligator rivers are in Kakadu right? Thats a national park...so as far as I am concerned you are in the crocodiles domain there. If you are fishing and are killed...tough luck its a national park.
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