Mother of girl killed by crocodile in Northern Territory speaks out against animal cull

A mother whose young daughter was mauled to death by a crocodile while swimming with friends has urged the Northern Territory Government not to expand the cull of the feared predators.

On a hot Sunday afternoon in March 2009, 11-year-old Briony Goodsell was with her sister and two friends at Lambert Lagoon near Humpty Doo, southeast of Darwin. She was cooling off in a stream at Lambells Lagoon when she jumped into the water and never resurfaced.

A coroner found the girl was carried away by a 3.2m saltwater crocodile.

Her mum, Charlene O’Sullivan, said that while her heartbreak was still “fresh” after more than a decade, education programs were the best way to keep people safe.

Briony’s death sparked a plan by Northern Territory authorities to clear all crocodiles within a 50km radius of Darwin, with the more aggressive ones culled and the others moved on.

The family had previously called for all crocodiles within 100 kilometers of Darwin to be culled, but Ms O’Sullivan, who has since started her own crocodile farm selling handbags and jewellery, said she now believed in safety education, relocation of problematic animals Crocodiles and eggs are harvested more efficiently.

“It’s still very painful and it’s still very much in our hearts,” Ms O’Sullivan told the ABC.

“(But culling) can give people a false sense of security… My most important thing has always been education.”

The crocodile responsible for the attack was never found, but coroner Greg Kavanagh said in his findings that he was confident of the cause of death.

The place where the children swam, the Black Jungle Swamp, was said to have crocodiles. After Briony jumped into the water, her companions saw a big bubble, and then the crocodile’s tail flashed past.

Children were not supposed to swim there, but as news reports at the time put it, “kids will be kids” and it was a “tragic misfortune.”

In the hours after Briony disappeared, several police officers, also with young children, risked their lives by wading into the depths of the creek and having to be dragged out by other police officers hours later.

Part of her body was found downstream the next day.

Despite evidence presented at the inquest that the Northern Territory’s crocodile population had grown to 150,000 in the years before the attacks, Mr Kavanagh concluded the cull would not work and would lead to complacency mood.

Mr Kavanagh said as part of a high-end community, residents had to accept that dangerous man-eating animals lived among humans.

“There needs to be a balance between the ethical and sustainable treatment of crocodiles and public safety,” he said.

“The Crocodile Management Plan currently developed and approved by the Northern Territory Government commits the community to increased attention and efforts to public safety.

“I recommend that detailed public safety measures be increased … and that they be resourced and implemented,” he said in his findings.

Scientists told the ABC this week that despite a surge in crocodile numbers since hunting was banned in the 1970s, the number of attacks has not increased.

Graham Webber, the retiring chairman of the Crocodile Expert Group, said the Northern Territory Government’s current plan to eliminate aggressive crocodiles was effective.

He said the only way to make it 100 percent safe was to eliminate the crocodiles completely.

But he added that the Northern Territory, which has the largest population of crocodiles in the world, should ensure resources are focused on tourist spots where people are told they can swim so they are kept crocodile-free.

The Northern Territory’s chief minister says she is disturbed by the number of saltwater crocodiles in the region after her government released a draft plan in February to manage the animals over the next 10 years.

First Minister Eva Lawler said the government’s next consultation paper on the saltwater crocodile management plan will “give the public a say on crocodiles, including on culling”.