Crocs too fat and lazy to jump

ADELAIDE RIVER - The future of one of Australia's most unusual tourist attractions - the "jumping crocodiles" of the Northern Territory - is in doubt after claims the reptiles are becoming fat and lazy through over-feeding.

The wild saltwater crocodiles of the Adelaide River, 70km southeast of Darwin, have been taught to leap out of the water by boat tour guides who dangle chunks of buffalo meat attached by string to wooden poles.

The river boasts one of the densest concentrations of saltwater crocodiles in the world: around 4000 are estimated to live along its 180km length.

The crocs - some are 6m long and weigh up to 1000kg - launch themselves with startling power, snapping their jaws around the fly-blown morsels before crashing into the water.

But there are now fears that daily feeding may result in the crocodiles becoming too lazy to jump, and that expansion of the existing tour operations will make the problem worse.

"If there are too many people feeding them, we'll end up with a bunch of fat crocs who don't want to jump any more," local MP Gerry Wood said.

Wood, who raised the matter in Parliament recently, wants the Northern Territory Government to tighten regulation of the industry. At present operators need no special permit to conduct crocodile cruises.

Three companies run croc-spotting cruises on the river which draws tourists from around the world.

Some of the "salties" are drawn to the tour boats with such regularity guides have given them nicknames - Hannibal the Cannibal, Stumpy, Skinny and Michael Jackson - named for his pale head and dark body.

Fears the crocodiles are becoming overfed were given credence by a double murder last year. Two teenage boys strangled two Thai prostitutes they had had sex with and dumped them, unconscious but still alive, in the Adelaide River. Despite being in the water for several days, neither corpse was eaten by a crocodile.

But tour operators deny they are over-feeding the salties. They say some of the big crocodiles disappear for weeks or months at a time, suggesting they are neither reliant on being fed nor fat and lazy.

"They are very competitive, very territorial, and cannibalistic," said tour boat skipper Rocque Chong Wee.

The crocodiles' biggest threat was not overfeeding but other crocodiles. "If there are too many crocs on the river they go into culling mode," Chong Wee said.

"We call the big ones buffalo munchers - they can easily bring down a pig or a horse. I don't think we need to worry too much about over-feeding them with a few bits of meat."