Effect of Capture on the Physiology of Crocody lus porosus

IN recent jrears, crocodile management programmes in northern Australia have more frequently required the capture of nuisance animals which are relocated into unpopulated areas or into crocodile farms. Since the saltwater crocodile Cvocodylus poroszcs, was fully protected in the Northern Territory in 1971, the number of capture incidents involving large, mature animals has increased. However, attempts to capture crocodiles larger than about 4 m in total length (TL) with traps and harpoons have often resulted in the crocodile's death, although the causes were not immediately apparent. A common feature in the capture of large animals is a prolonged period of struggling to exhaustion, which has been necessary to subdue them to a point where it is possible to manoeuvre them onto a vehicle for transport. The crocodiles appear alive when subdued, but die shortly afterwards.