Crocodile kills pet dog. Should the Croc be killed.

[Sky High]

let it live, it's doing more for it's ecosystem then the dog ever did.

[Celista]

Should we cull human predators too?

We do that already, it is called our criminal justice system.

Really the system should be considered rehabilitative rather than punitive but it's the US so.

[TriHard]

Natural selection.

[mickybrighteyes]

IMO, the owner of the dog has a valid reason to kill a croc if they are aware of the croc killing their dog.

Some random person's dog getting eaten isn't a valid reason to go around culling wildlife.

[Theoris]

“Attacks are on the rise, the crocs we’re seeing are big, aggressive and territorial, and crocs are surfacing in places they’ve never been before.”

If the crocs are getting out of control then yeah, their cacophonous revelry should be stopped. I'd rather not hear about a person, especially not a child, being taken next.

[Forgettable]

It's a dog, who cares?

I mean if the issue is bigger than just this once isolated incident, then sure, something should be done. But somebody wanting to vengeance kill a croc because a dog is dumb enough to go into the water? Nah.

[mickybrighteyes]

We do that already, it is called our criminal justice system.

Really the system should be considered rehabilitative rather than punitive but it's the US so.

I wouldn't really call the criminal justice system a 'cull'.

cull
kʌl/Submit
verb
1.
reduce the population of (a wild animal) by selective slaughter.
"some of the culled deer will be used for scientific research"
synonyms: slaughter, kill, destroy; More
2.
select from a large quantity; obtain from a variety of sources.
"anecdotes culled from Greek and Roman history"
synonyms: select, choose, pick, take, obtain, get, glean
"anecdotes culled from Greek and Roman history"

Relatively speaking, it doesn't really reduce the population nor does it really select from a wide variety of sources.

[Vayro]

Not sure what the :P means. We don't need to coddle predators, and a cull is a selective thinning of a given population and not an eradication of an entire species. We cull predators for many different reasons in many different countries, including human safety and for ecosystem balance.

As a wildlife biologist, I can tell you that depredation is almost never for ecosystem balance. It's almost always a reaction to a deep pocketed stakeholder groups' whining. In the U.S. that's usually hunters or agriculture.

[Celista]

I wouldn't really call the criminal justice system a 'cull'.

cull
kʌl/Submit
verb
1.
reduce the population of (a wild animal) by selective slaughter.
"some of the culled deer will be used for scientific research"
synonyms: slaughter, kill, destroy; More
2.
select from a large quantity; obtain from a variety of sources.
"anecdotes culled from Greek and Roman history"
synonyms: select, choose, pick, take, obtain, get, glean
"anecdotes culled from Greek and Roman history"

Relatively speaking, it doesn't really reduce the population nor does it really select from a wide variety of sources.

I would agree that it is not the best term but the result is the same, removing individual predators from a given population. Especially given the revolving-door nature of US prisons.

[Berengil]

Yes. Any animal that inconveniences a human or damages a human's property forfeits its life. Winning the evolutionary race has its perks.

I don't go out hunting for critters to kill, but God help them if they come on my property or get in my way.

[Celista]

As a wildlife biologist, I can tell you that depredation is almost never for ecosystem balance. It's almost always a reaction to a deep pocketed stakeholder groups' whining. In the U.S. that's usually hunters or agriculture.

I would absolutely agree, I grew up in Alaska and there was a fight to protect wolves every year (also moose and caribou). That being said, predators back home would generally avoid humans and my reply was due to the "increase of attacks" mentioned in the article. I think that reasonable precautions should be taken in regards to protecting human safety, something that falls far short of overzealousness.

Not sure if this increase in attacks is statistically significant and whether or not relocation would be an option.

[Felya]

Croc eats family dog? Family eats croc... another promblem solved, by random internet poster!

[mickybrighteyes]

I would agree that it is not the best term but the result is the same, removing individual predators from a given population. Especially given the revolving-door nature of US prisons.

the bold means they AREN'T removed from the population... as they are going back out the revolving door.

[Celista]

the bold means they AREN'T removed from the population... as they are going back out the revolving door.

I mean, we can play the semantics game if you want but the revolving door indicates that they go out only to go right back in. And in the US, we give life sentences for acts of actual predation such as murder.

[Mormolyce]

How did I know this was an Aussiedude thread?

Maybe you shouldn't live in places that are basically just giant swamps full of crocs. Like say, Darwin.

- - - Updated - - -

Should we cull human predators too?

They're an introduced species and a pestilence that's having a devastating effect on native wildlife, that's for sure.

[Trassk]

Yeah no. While I'd be devastated if it was my dog, the croc is just doing what's natural to it, and doing what it can to survive. This is a massive human fallacy, humans build homes in regions close to wild habitats, something makes the wild life come into their towns and just kills to eat and survive, and the primate reaction of the invading human is always 'kill it' even when peppered with laws

[Ilikegreenfire]

Don't kill the Crocks, if your dumb enough to enter the domain of an apex predator like a gw or bull shark or crock unprepared you and or your pet deserve to die. Pools exist for a reason, we already carved out a chunk through nature for for our population, if you enter natures domain play by natures rules.

Besides don't you want them to kill dogs? something has to keep the fucking dingoes in check, aren't they the only medium to large land predator left after your ancestors fucked the thylacine? something has to keep them in check.

If i go out camping and get attacked by a cougar ya ill fight back but i know its my fault if it kills me/

- - - Updated - - -

Also isn't wildlife a main chunk of Aus's tourism? Killing big crocks seems counter productive to that for some reason.

[Bathory]

I never understood the "rush out and kill the thing" that happens after these things. As if this is some isolated croc that just had a tendency to fuck with people's pets.

[Mormolyce]

Besides don't you want them to kill dogs? something has to keep the fucking dingoes in check, aren't they the only medium to large land predator left after your ancestors fucked the thylacine? something has to keep them in check.

Dingoes are classified "vulnerable", a step above "endangered". I don't think there's any chance of them not being "in check".

Crocodiles meanwhile are classified "least concern". They're apparently doing fine.

[Polarthief]

The crocs are probably thinking the same about people, too. "those fucks getting bigger, more aggressive and territorial - entering areas where they haven't before"

No it's not. It's thinking what it can eat next, because it's a fucking wild animal without empathy or morality.

OT: No point in killing it for "revenge" or whatever. Culling the population a bit if they're too close to populated areas, sure, but killing THAT specific croc, like, there's no point.