Stop the Harvesting of Crocodile Eggs! By Australia zoo

I support Dr Terri Irwin’s call on the State Government to reverse its decision to allow the harvesting of crocodile eggs in Queensland and complete the necessary scientific research on crocodile populations before considering such an environmentally dangerous precedent affecting our vulnerable native wildlife.

Dr Terri Irwin AM, owner of Australia Zoo, has spoken against the Queensland Government’s decision to allow crocodile egg harvesting in Queensland. Changing environmental laws to allow crocodile farms to increase their egg production, by compromising wild crocodiles, is akin to the decision China was considering by lifting the ban on farmed rhino and tiger products. Decisions like these only further jeopardise animals in the wild and further enable the illegal trade in wildlife products.

Queensland’s saltwater crocodiles, Crocodylus porosus, are listed under the same category as koalas under the Government’s own Nature Conservation Act; both are listed under the category of ‘Vulnerable’. The Department of Environment and Science states that vulnerable animals are a component of Queensland’s biodiversity and a vital feature of the ecosystem in which that wildlife lives.

We, the petitioners, request the House to overturn the Queensland Government’s decision to introduce wild crocodile egg harvesting in Queensland until it can be proven through scientific research that egg harvesting will not negatively impact the sustainability of Queensland crocodile populations.