Crocodile attacks in Timor-Leste are at an all-time high. In Australia, it’s a different story.

In a small coastal town in East Timor, between a rugged mountain range and the Banda Sea, Lino Fernandes Xavier stands next to his brother’s grave in the local cemetery, his head bowed.

From a long line of fishermen, Lino and his brothers were revered for their knowledge of local fishing, until a tragic incident 17 years ago.

“We were three brothers and two sisters, but now there are only two brothers left,” says Lino.

One afternoon in 2007, Lino’s brother, Carlos Fernandes Xavier, packed up his spear, said goodbye to his wife and children, and went fishing. He never returned.

“That night everyone was helping to look for him. We used flashlights to find his body, but we couldn’t find him,” says Lino.

“The next day, around 4 or 5 p.m., we finally found him.”

Charging…

Like dozens of Timorese fishermen before him, Carlos was killed by a saltwater crocodile.

Lino had warned his brother about night fishing, when many Timorese believe the ancient crocodiles that protect locals go to sleep, leaving them vulnerable to dangerous outsider crocodiles.

Carlos chose to spear fish with three friends for safety, all of whom knew the waters well.

Watching how they bit him, none of them could save him that night.

Attacks increase in East Timor

Since 2007, Timor-Leste has recorded 173 crocodile attacks on humans, 78 of them fatal.

That’s a 23-fold increase since the island nation gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, marking a record.

There is uncertainty around the actual numbers, and crocodile researchers believe that figure is likely an underrepresentation due to a lack of reporting infrastructure and the taboo around reporting attacks.

It is also not known how many crocodiles live in East Timor, but experts say there is not a lot of suitable habitat for them.

Charging…

Dili anthropologist Josh Trindade says that during the 24 years of Indonesian occupation, authorities regularly killed crocodiles in Timor-Leste.

“During the Indonesian period you rarely hear about attacks,” he says.

“But now every two weeks we hear about attacks.”

Josh says most victims are impoverished fishermen desperate to earn income for their families, and that 80 percent of reported crocodile attacks occur while fishing or crabbing.

Despite the risks, Francisco José Manuel is calm as he navigates a bamboo raft along the notoriously dangerous Lake Ira Lalaro, where there have been 12 fatal attacks since 2015.

This is nothing new for the fisherman from the mountain village of Mehara.

He’s been working in crocodile-filled waters since he was a little boy.

“I feel safe coming here every day,” he says.

“If there’s a crocodile there, leave it and keep fishing.”

timio

According to the East Timor creation myth, the island was formed by a crocodile who sacrificed himself for a child, so that he and his descendants would have a home to live in.

They are considered traditional ancestors by many locals, who call them “grandfather”, and in many regions it is taboo to harm or kill them.

“If we respect them, they will respect us,” says Francisco.

The East Timor government has continually attempted to manage the increasing number of crocodile attacks, including removing “problematic” crocodiles after an attack, but says they are limited by funding and access.

Can Australia offer assistance?

Less than 800 kilometers across the Timor Sea, Australia’s Northern Territory is home to the world’s largest population of saltwater crocodiles, with more than 100,000 individuals.

But a different scenario is developing here.

Australia records fewer attacks than any other place in the world inhabited by saltwater crocodiles, with 44 fatal attacks since 1975, compared to Timor’s 41 fatal attacks in just the last nine years.

Charging…

The trend has intrigued Cameron Baker, an ecologist at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory.

“While it is a logical assumption that fewer crocodiles lead to a lower likelihood of attack, there are always other factors at play,” says Dr. Baker.

Last year, after a non-fatal attack at a popular swimming hole, the NT government increased the number of crocodiles allowed to be killed from 300 to 1,200 a year, a decision some crocodile experts have criticised.

Dr Baker spent last year researching the NT crocodile population and comparing it to the number of attacks.

As part of his research, he analyzed five scenarios that modeled different levels of sacrifice to see if this could make the territory safer.

He found that even if 90,000 crocodiles were culled from the wild population, the number of attacks would only be reduced by one per year.

“It is a very small reduction in the risk of attacks, compared to the enormous number of crocodiles we would have to sacrifice in the wild,” he says.

Dr Baker estimated a culling program of that scale would return the NT crocodile population to a critically endangered level and would cost more than $80 million.

Instead of sacrificing animals, he says educational campaigns are cheaper and more effective in keeping people safe in the New Testament.

Professor Grahame Webb has been researching crocodiles in the Top End for more than 40 years and has been instrumental in the recovery of the NT crocodile population.

He believes that if the NT had not invested so many resources in crocodile management and education, it could have seen a crocodile attack situation similar to that in Timor-Leste.

“Australians should be immensely proud of the tremendous recovery of crocodiles in the north,” he says.

The increase in the NT crocodile population from 3,000 to 100,000 over the past 50 years led to a small increase in attacks until the 2000s, when numbers began to fall.

Professor Webb attributes the decline to investment in management and education programs aimed at keeping people “crocodile wise”, teaching them about crocodile behavior and keeping a safe distance from waterways.

The Northern Territory Liberal Party government told the ABC it has begun talks with the Timor-Leste government to help the country improve its crocodile management strategies, as part of a broader strategic partnership agreement between the two governments. .

Early discussions are expected to revolve around information sharing on crocodile management, Croc Wise primary school programs, crocodile trap design, and training and support around crocodile population assessments.

Professor Webb wants Australia to lend its knowledge of crocodile management to Australia’s northern neighbors who he says face “a real humanitarian problem”.

He hopes some funding will be provided to help, but acknowledges it is a delicate and difficult task.

With a large portion of the population dependent on waterways for their livelihood, coupled with a strong cultural connection to “grandfather crocodile”, the challenges in Timor-Leste are very different to those of management in Australia.

“We have to try to get help,” says Professor Webb, explaining that the problem needs to be addressed in a way that recognizes cultural differences and the lack of infrastructure.

“It’s very difficult in East Timor because there is a great reverence for crocodiles, which is a beautiful thing.”

“But it comes with a lot of people dead, maimed and injured, and suffering a lot, so finding a way through it will be complex.”

Charging…

Credits

• Report and images: Jayden O’Neill
• Additional images: Potenzo Lopes and Oliver Glixman
• Production: Jack Hislop
• Editing: Alicia Perera and Emily Sakzewski