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Op-Ed: Tourists called stupid in croc attack in Australia — Wrong

The croc attack scenario is rare enough, but the “stupidity” argument is all too familiar. The logic is simple, though — crocs are extremely dangerous top predators. They can kill and eat water buffalo that weigh as much as a small car, and the buffalo are the underdogs in any confrontation. Go into their territory, and it’s not considered a smart move.
The crocodile range in northern Australia is basically the entire northern coast. They’re a major hazard in all estuarine waterways from one side of the continent to the other. They are ocean-going, and have been spotted many miles out to sea. The crocs have not seen the movies in which they’re usually bit actors (excuse pun; and just as well; they’d want a cut of the profits) and are somehow unaware of the problems eating a few passers-by might cause. They usually get one or two people a year.
They also come in sizes up to about 7 metres long, and at that size can take out anything they can bite. They’re the biggest reptiles in the world. Try telling one of these monsters to go on a diet; they used to eat dinosaurs. If you see any signs of crocs, in the Top End, you avoid them, fast.
(Also don’t assume that blazing away with a popgun will impress them. It doesn’t. A .38 magnum in the brain might get some respect, but anything else is more likely to annoy them.)
The local Federal Member of Parliament for the area, Warren Entsch MP stated that “…You can’t legislate against stupidity.” Some people feel that the remark is insensitive. It should however be understood that the “stupid” tag is also often used in context with tourists who come to Australia and just don’t pay attention to the dangers. Many tourist fatalities are quite avoidable.
Most Australians despair over the sheer ignorance/media version of Australia many tourists seem to have. They really do seem to think they’re in a movie. We have a huge supply of dangerous animals which people consider “quaint.” These animals include the most venomous animals on Earth, the Irukandji box jellyfish, snakes, wild pigs, crocs, wild dogs and dingoes, spiders, ticks, sharks, and other charmingly lethal creatures. They do kill people, regularly. Even a koala can give you a visit to a hospital if it doesn’t like you.
(I know a guy who fought the whole of World War 2, won a Military Cross, and didn’t get much of a scratch in years of heavy-duty infantry combat. He tried to pick up a stunned koala which had been hit by a car. It came to in his arms and tore him to shreds, doing him more damage than WW2.)
The ladies in this incident went swimming at night. Bad move in every possible sense. Never swim at night, preferably anywhere in Australia. The other, more likely, risk at night is sharks, which do overtime hunting at night in the north and everywhere else.
However, these tourists weren’t necessarily quite as stupid as it might seem from that description. In the bush, people are supposed to warn you about possible risks. Australians do pull the legs of foreigners about imaginary dangers — but not real ones. The bush ethos is that you do warn people of risks, even bits of bad road or potholes. Even the most phone-addled tourist operator should know that.
Talking about stupidity — the attack took place on a Daintree beach. The Daintree rain forest is one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations. It’s not exactly good business, or good PR, to have our local carnivorous handbags eating the tourists.
So let’s keep some practical perspectives about this case, shall we? Tourists can’t be expected to know all the risks. They come here to go on holiday, not to become wildlife experts. Locals can, and should warn them.

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Written By

Editor-at-Large based in Sydney, Australia.

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