256 Management of Human-Crocodile Conflict in the Northern Territory, Australia: Review of Crocodile Attacks and Removal of Problem Crocodiles Yusuke Fukuda 1 , Charlie Manolis 2 and Kristen Appel 3 1 Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management, PO Box 496, Palmerston, Northern Territory 0831, Australia (yusuke.fukuda@nt.gov.au) 2 Wildlife Management International Pty. Limited, PO Box 530, Karama, Northern Territory 0813, Australia (cmanolis@wmi.com.au) 3 Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory, PO Box 496, Palmerston, Northern Territory 0831, Australia (kristen.appel@nt.gov.au) Abstract Rebuilding of depleted crocodilian populations leads to increased Human-Crocodile Conflict (HCC), and the focus of management changes from conservation to mitigation of HCC. As the largest and most aggressive extant crocodilian species, saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) are of particular concern, although they are an important natural resource for commercial harvesting, tourism, and customary use. We quantified HCC in the Northern Territory of Australia by reviewing the historical records of saltwater crocodile attacks and the removal of saltwater crocodiles. Between 1977 and 2013, a total of 5792 problem crocodiles were caught, of which 69.04% were males. The most common size class was 150-200 cm and their mean size did not change significantly over years. Between 1971 and 2013, 18 fatal attacks and 45 non-fatal attacks occurred. About 60% of these attacks occurred around human population centers including remote communities. The number of attacks, particularly non-fatal cases increased over years. This increase was strongly related to the increase in both human and crocodile populations, and the increasing proportion of larger (>180 cm) crocodiles. The peak of problem crocodile capturing and crocodile attacks was in the beginning (Sep.-Dec.) and end (Mar.-Apr.) of the wet season. However, fatal attacks occurred almost all year around. Attacks by >400 cm crocodiles often resulted in death of the victim (73.33%). Crocodiles in 300-350 cm class were more responsible for attacks than any other sizes. Proportions of indigenous and non-indigenous victims did not differ greatly. Local and male victims were much more common than visitors and females, respectively. The most common activity of victims was swimming and wading. It is essential that the public receive messages about crocodile awareness and risks through education programs. Introduction Depleted populations of large carnivores represent a particularly difficult conservation challenge, because success in increasing wild populations can come with the social, political and economic cost of increased conflict with people (Treves and Karanth 2003; Treves et al. 2006; Dickman 2010). The rebuilding of wild crocodilian populations has often resulted in increased Human- Crocodile Conflict (HCC) (Stuebing 1983; Conover and Dubow 1997; Aust et al. 2009; Gopi and Pandav 2009; Wallace et al. 2011; Webb 2012), and with larger and more aggressive crocodilians, conflict involves people being severely injured or killed (Nekisic and Wardill 1992; Scott and Scott