Is this the most dangerous job in Australia? | ABC News скачать в хорошем качестве

Is this the most dangerous job in Australia? | ABC News

Roger Matthews is about to enter the home of a predator. But he’s in familiar territory. The 56-year-old has been catching and collecting crocodiles since 1989. Wandering onto a sandy bank of the McKinlay River, south of Darwin, Roger is acutely aware a crocodile could be nearby. Using a silver Colt .45 automatic pistol and a stick he’s found, he’s ready for anything. “When we’re in the water … It’s just close combat — boom, boom, boom, I get 10 shots.” In reality, the ancient estuarine beasts will likely scatter after his first shot. The army veteran has been hired to protect two environmental scientists from saltwater crocodiles. “Basically, to make sure that they get in and do what they got to do and they get to go home each night,” Roger says. The scientists have been contracted by gold and rare metals mining companies operating in the Northern Territory to monitor aquatic insects in the freshwater ecosystems. Tara Steele is one of those scientists, who observes changes to macroinvertebrates’ population, size and health. “The composition of those macroinvertebrates tells us a lot about the health of an ecosystem based off the conditions that are at the site,” she says. Ensuring mining, which accounts for a third of the territory’s economy, has less impact on the environment is work that is close to Tara’s heart. “This work has to happen, we have to get here, we have to look at what is going on with the aquatic ecosystems in these areas.” But it’s not easy work. Assisting these mines is one of the most treacherous jobs Tara has ever undertaken. “It is a dangerous place to work. It’s more dangerous if you don’t understand the risks, and you don’t control for them,” she says. And so the unlikely partnership of an aquatic ecologist and a crocodile hunter was forged. Roger is making the science possible, using the senses he’s honed over 30 years working with crocodiles in the murky waters of the Top End. From crocodile farms, to hunting problem saltwater crocodiles that kill cattle across stations in the Northern Territory, there aren’t many jobs involving this animal he hasn’t done. As well as his work with Tara, Roger is also contracted by the Department of Parks and Environmental Wildlife Services to collect problem crocodiles from Darwin’s active removal zone. It’s the largest zone of its kind in the territory, where saltwater crocodiles are taken by Parks and Wildlife to be euthanised as part of a management plan to keep the public safe. Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-0... ABC News provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad, including the latest coronavirus pandemic updates. It's news when you want it, from Australia's most trusted news organisation. For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2 Like ABC News on Facebook:   / abcnews.au   Follow ABC News on Instagram:   / abcnews_au   Follow ABC News on Twitter:   / abcnews   Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated. #ABCNews #ABCNewsAustralia