Anger Over Crocodile Hunt Plan

Tourists and safari hunters will be allowed to shoot wild crocodiles in the Northern Territory, prompting outrage from conservationists.

The state's parks and wildlife service want to license hunting of 25 crocodiles a year to raise money for Aboriginal communities.

Animal welfare groups have reacted angrily. Hugh Wirth, the director of RSPCA Australia, said if the culling were necessary, it should be done by professionals, not rich tourists. A commercially hunted crocodile could fetch up to £9,500.

Demand for their skin nearly wiped out the Australian saltwater crocodile after the second world war. When hunting was banned in 1971 just 5,000 animals were left in the wild.

Their recovery has been dramatic, with 150,000 living across Australia's far north.