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Country Accounts Asia Australia Australian freshwatcr crocodile Saltwalcr crocodile Australian freshwater crocodile (Crocodtlus johnsoni) Status of Wifd Populations| Crocod))lrs johnsoni B ^ medium-sizcd Australian endcmic rcsricred primarily to frcshwa, ter habitats. Population dcnsilies vary significantly berwe€n areas, but lhe overall population <strong>size</strong> in the Northem Tcnitory was estima@d by Webb er a]. (1987) ro be in dle 30,m060.000 range. In Weslcm Australia, freshwatcr cr6odiles are reslicled to the Kimberly region, but are rcponed to be abundant. Al{hough there was widespread huntinS in fie pdsr (Buslard 1970), some rernole populalions may never havc been hunted (Burbidgc 1987). Recenl survcys conm issioncd by l}te Departmenl of Cons€rvalion and Land Managomcnl resulre.d in esrinalEs of 35,?00 C. jolrrrri in ihe Ord and FirJoy Riven and the large impoundmcnls associated wirh rhem. The lotal populadon is thoughl to be in excess of 50,000 (c. Webb, in lin. May 29, 1990). Thc species has been lcrmed "abundanr" in Que€nsland, although no sysremadc survcys of ihe popularion have bccn undertrkcn (Taplin 1987). Management and Conservation Programs: This species is proFcted $roughour its distriburion in norrlcm Ausralia. Exportof crocodiles orcrocodilianproducrs is prohibit€d under the Wildlife hotection Gegularion of Exporls and tmporls) Act of 1982. In the Norlhcm Te'Iitory,1,532 C. johnsoni hatchlings were harveslcd in 1980-1981 during inirial field 6tals (Webb d al. 1987, Conscnarion Commission of the Tehnf.l.ns yeieh . wlfd frcshe.ter mcodilq Cm.aArht joi^'aai, Norlhcm Teffilory (CCNT) rr M.Kinley Rh€r, Northern le.r,rory,,{ustr.lti (Phoro 1989). In 1982, bt 4,573 werc harvcstcd in a commcrcial,scale trial in eighi managcment areas CJ,W. split between lhc crocodile farms. The exrenl of fte annuat harvesr has varicd from ye3r lo ycar, with a total of 19,506 hatchlings being harvested bcrween 1980 and 1989 (Webb et al. cggs were taken for incubarion experiments in 1989 (Webb et 198?, CCNT 1989, Manolis and Wcbb 1990, Wcbb cl al. al. 19mb). 1990a). Population moniloring in rhe harchling and egg collecling A commcrcial egg colleclion program iniliarcd in 1983 areas is being carried out by noctumal spodighr counts and re\ul|€d in I.5oieggsbcinghx^esred.andailo$edacompanson hclicopter surveys during the annual dry season. To dala, of the merits of egg harvesting versus halchling collection. In resulb indica@ lhat populalions havo conlinued !o increasc somc areas egg harvcsring is more cfficient, and between I 983 regardless of thc harvest (CCNT 1989, Webb er al. 1990b). The dnd 1989, 8,532 eggs have becn harvesFd from ftc managemen! developmcnl oflhe management program for rhis sp€cies in fie areas (CCNT 1989, Webb cl al. 1990b) and an additional 787 Norlhem Terrilory has b€en accompanied by, and is based on, 34
a large-scale rescarch progam, which has investigated many aspccls of the e.ology of l.his sp€lies (for summary s€€ Webb or al. 1987). Four crocodrle farms in ahc Northem Territory and lwo in Queensland are cunently re ingc . johnso^i. Most farms rely largely on witd-produced young, but at <strong>Crocodile</strong> Farms N.T. 25 nests wcre laid in 1987,22 in 1988, and 23 in 1989 (webb and Manolis 19m, Webb et al. 1990b). The lotal caplivo stock in the Northem Tcrritory farns in 1983 was 6,777 (luxmoore eral. 1985). and in 1989 was 9,1830vebb et al. 1990b). Country Rating Survey Dala: Iv-widespread suley data Wild Population Status: 5 not depleled Management hog]am: E.2-lanching, E.3'farming S.lt{rt4 qNdllq Cdadrturr'mrlr, on .6@odll€ f.m In lhe Northern Tcnlto.t, Austrdl. (Photo bt G.J.W. Webb), Saltwater crocodile (Crocodllus porosus) Statos ofwild Populationsi Onc of the most extensive census prognms for any species of wildlifc was conducled for C. crocodrles and 9.77, per ycar whcn only non'hatchlings wcrc prrorrs by th€ Universily of Sydney, wifr assisunce from considered. State and Territory govcmmcnts. The surveys were uken in thc ToLai population si/c in tJle Nonhem Teri(Cl'y was variously estimaDd !o be 12,0(}) non'hatchlings (Messel and lialal waterways of northem Australia by Mcsscl and co-work' ers, The results of these surveys have boen published as a serics vorlicok 1989b) to at lcast 30,000 and "probably closer to of 20monogaphs(Messel etal. 1978-1987). From 1975-1979 40,fi)0" (hatchlings, non-hatchlings, and caplivexwebb et al. approximately 100 rivcr systcms were systematrcally survcyed 1984). Much ofrhis difference resulted from different interpretations of $c number of crocodiles in unsurveyod habitats, and in the Nonhcm Tcrritory, westem AusEalia, and Queensland (Mcsscl et al.l98l -monograph I ). Thcse ar€as were resuryeyed fic inclusion of halchlingsandcapliveanimals lhc cstimales during 1980- 1987 (Messel and Vorlicek 1989b). The results of ofwebb cl at. (1984). thesc survcys have provided considcrable information not only Populauons in Weslem Ausual|a are strady or incrcasing on population status, but on behavior and ccology as well. The some rivcrs (Messel el al- 1987, Monograph 20). Messel and Conservation Commission of $e Northcm Tefrilory b€gan vorlicek ( I 989b) eslimaled fie 1979 non-harchling populaton suppodng e4ological invcsligadons in the late 1970s, and has in thc Kimberley region to be 2,500. In Q'reensland. crocodilcs continued an exrcnsivo sLrvey-monitoring progmm since $al are nill widespread andcommon,buLpopulat'on rccovcrysince time. Queensland Nalional Parks and Wildlifc Scrvice and the protection has nol been as great as in thc Nordem Territory Westem AusEalian Department of Conservation and Land (Taplin 1990). Messcl and Vorlicek (1989b) estimaled the Mxnagemenl have bolh (ontinucd\ome monilodnE. 1979 non-halchling population to be 3,000 in northcm An extensive survey database now exists for C. po.orrr Queensland. Allhough morc rcccnl survey alata fiom Quccnsland within AusFalia, csp€cially in the Nonhcm Terri1ory. Within are availablc (faplin 19m), no reviscd cslimate of loial popu' ddal riverine habitats in the Norlhem Terilory, spotlighl counl lalioo has bccn offered. Habilat loss on fie Qucensland eastem dala now span somc 15 years. During thc carly 1980s some coast ls now a maJorconcern. recovery was notcd or cerlain rivcr sysiems (e.g. Alligator River region and the Adelaide Rivcr system), atd a 1984 non Managem€nt and Conservation Programs: Full pro@ction hatchling population cstimate for $e No(hem Teni0ory was for thc sallwarr crocodile began in 1971 in Westem Australia, 12,000, up 2,000 from 1979. Populations from the Adelaidc 1972 in r.\e Nodhem Tenitory, and 1974 in Quccnsland River westward !o th€ Westem Australia border were found !o (Groombridge 1982). A nalional ban on import and expo( be slable or decreasing in number. Populations in the Gulf of began in 1972 (Messel, pers. comm.). Extensive field and Carpentaria (apan from the Roper and Towns dvers), were laboralory res€arch in!o vinually all asp€cts of the biology ofC. considercd b be near exlinction level (Messel et al. 1978 ,orrs&! have been conducied by Messel and co-workers of the 19{i7). Univcrsity ofSydney, and more rcccndy by lhe Conscrvalion However, by the nid-1980s, a gcncral re4overy trend was Commission oflhe Norlhcm Tenitory. As a rcsutl, C. polortr.r evident. Webb e1al. (1989) considcr tnal populalion recovery is one of the best-known crocodilians from an ecological began widin the first 2'5 years aftcr prole.lion of the popula slrndpoint. Becausc of l}|c effective prolection of wild populalions and fic large-scale rcsearch and management progmm, lion ,n lq7l. Although cro(odile den.rlies bclsccn ritcr syslems were highly variable, an analysis of dala for the tidal lhc Australian population was moved from CITES Appendix I river population as a whole, spanning 14 years (1975-1988), 1o Ap[Jendix II in 1985. The eshblishmcnt of Kakadu Nalional showed a mean annual increa-se of 8.37, per year for "all" Park was a major cooservation achjevcmcnl for crocodiles. 35
Page 1 and 2: Crocodiles An Action Plan for their
Page 3: Crocodiles An Action Plan for their
Page 6 and 7: Peru...............................
Page 8 and 9: Specialist Group, Florida Museum of
Page 11 and 12: Objectives and Organization of the
Page 13 and 14: Comnon clinan, Cairu' .'d.or'il!i,
Page 15 and 16: 3. Lcal residenLs. The cconomic val
Page 17 and 18: (Res. Cont 1.1 and 1.2). This requi
Page 19 and 20: nanagemenr, and the fact thal croco
Page 21 and 22: Species-specifi c Conservation Prio
Page 23 and 24: Country Accounts Introduction This
Page 25 and 26: Slender-snouted crQcodile (C r o c
Page 27 and 28: of 20 was established for 1985- 198
Page 29 and 30: C-rocodllus cataphrdctus. C rocodll
Page 31 and 32: Slender-snouted crocodile (C ro c o
Page 33 and 34: (140 km surveyed), Sabatvcalana Riv
Page 35 and 36: Nife crocodile (Crocodylus t ilotic
Page 37 and 38: Dwarf crocodile (Os teolaemus tetra
Page 39 and 40: Country Ratitrg Survey Data: I-no s
Page 41 and 42: Wild Population Status: l-u*nown Ma
Page 43: populalion of Nile crocodiles was t
Page 47 and 48: Matragementand Conservation Prcgram
Page 49 and 50: (Chen 1990a). However, in Xuancheng
Page 51 and 52: Conlact: D. Basu, B. C. Choudhurv,
Page 53 and 54: sp€cics has also be€n reponedly
Page 55 and 56: km) (Whitakor lgsa). From thos€ d
Page 57 and 58: - Mugger Gharial pakistan 1982). Kl
Page 59 and 60: anch in Lae. In 1988, a lotal of I,
Page 61 and 62: crccodilc habitat in the Solomon ls
Page 63 and 64: Wild Population Status: 3-severely
Page 65 and 66: life Prot€ction Acf' and banned c
Page 67 and 68: - Klemm and Navid I989) in BraTil,
Page 69 and 70: N.0017-87). Ranching or cropping pr
Page 71 and 72: Cainan in i\e La er Swamp, bul lhis
Page 73: Dwafi cAiman ( P aleo suchus palpeb

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