John Lever joins calls for Fitzroy River rezoning

A crocodile expert of decades has joined calls for all crocs spotted in the “recreational” section of the Fitzroy River to be removed amid ongoing safety fears and threats to the future of watersports.

There has been a renewed push for any sighted crocodile to be removed from the recreational part of the Fitzroy River.

For more than four decades John Lever has been working with crocodiles, removing them, keeping them and even helping to send our dinosaurs of the deep across the globe.

Now, the Koorana Crocodile Farm owner has joined the call for all crocodiles spotted in the recreational part of the Fitzroy River to be removed and that portion of the waterway to be classed as an active removal zone.

It comes as the State Government seeks public feedback on an updated crocodile management draft plan.

Under the current zoning, the Fiztroy River is classed as crocodile country and as a result, only “problem” reptiles are removed.

Mr Lever has been working with crocodiles for 42 years, and in that time has heard stories of crocs taking bites out of canoe oars and eating pets.

He said regulations needed to change so crocodiles would automatically be removed from the recreational part of the river where watersports competitions have had to be cancelled in recent years.

John Lever from Koorana Crocodile Farm.

“This area here is not an active removal zone, and it should be, this is the fifth time I’ve appealed to the Queensland Government to have this changed,” he said.

“There are too many people using this area of the river with too many crocs in it, as an active removal zone any crocodile can be removed and that makes a healthy and safer area of the river for people to go about their recreational activities.”

Mr Lever said the new crocodile management plan needed to be flexible.

“Working with crocodiles you need to be very flexible, if there’s a danger or a threat you need to get rid of that croc,” he said.

“Once again, I’ll support the ‘no cull’ thing, we’ve had a lot of people calling for a cull because they think the croc numbers have exploded out of proportion and that’s not true, population is increasing slowly.

“But when they become visible to people and they’re there it’s a worry, it’s a real worry. I implore the Queensland Government to have a look at their regulations again and include some flexibility in the new five-year plan.”

Mr Lever said during his most recent survey of the Fitzroy River, on the other side of the barrage, he saw eight crocodiles.

“Below the barrage I’m not worried,” he said.

Rockhampton Water Ski Club President Peter Darby.

“But here is the recreational area, you don’t need any crocodiles in that area. There’s no way you’re going to remove all the crocs, I can tell you now, but I think the policy should be an active removal zone for recreational areas.”

Rockhampton Water Ski Club president Peter Darby said the club had seen a decline in memberships because of crocodile concerns.

“We’ve struggled to maintain memberships in the last 12 to 24 months because of crocodile sightings in the river,” he said.

“No longer can we just ignore the fact crocodile sightings are not impacting recreation on the river, the ongoing impacts of crocodile sightings are causing us to come to the party and ask to rezone our river.”

Despite calls from other parties for a crocodile cull, Queensland Senator Matt Canavan and Capricornia MP Michelle Landry both said this wasn’t the answer for the Fitzroy River.

“I don’t agree with that here, I don’t think there’s enough to warrant that, maybe up further north where there’s a huge supply of crocodiles, but I think you need to be a bit careful about it all because they are dangerous animals and you need to be careful,” Ms Landry said.

“I think a removal is the most sensible option here it protects the people, which is the primary aim, and it create a safe environment for crocodiles upstream, it’s a win win,” Mr Canavan said.

The draft plan proposes the rezoning of lagoons adjoining the gardens, in the Rockhampton Regional Council catchment, from the current Zone E general management zone to become a targeted crocodile removal zone.

According to the draft plan, Zone C and D would merge and become a targeted crocodile removal zone where all large crocodiles, and any crocodile displaying dangerous behaviour, would be targeted for removal.

The area around Pink Lily is regularly used for recreational water skiing, rowing and paddling and is mapped under Zone C on the Queensland Crocodile Management Plan.

In Zone C, any crocodiles confirmed to be present that are 2m or larger are targeted for removal.

Originally published as John Lever joins calls for Fitzroy River rezoning