Mother of girl killed by crocodile in NT speaks out against crocodile cull trends now
Charlene O'Sullivan's daughter Briony was killed by a crocodile in an NT watering hole
A mother whose young daughter was killed by a crocodile as she swam with friends has urged the Northern Territory government not to expand culling of the animals.
Briony Goodsell, 11, was cooling off in a creek at Lambells Lagoon near Humpty Doo, south-east of Darwin, with her sister and two friends on a hot Sunday afternoon in March 2009 when she jumped in the water and failed to resurface.
A coroner found the girl had been taken by a 3.2 metre saltwater crocodile, with her mother, Charlene O'Sullivan, this week saying, despite her still 'fresh' heartbreak more than a decade on, that education programs were the best way to keep people safe.
Briony's death sparked a program by NT authorities to remove all crocodiles within a 50km radius of Darwin, with aggressive animals culled and others moved on.
The family previously called for a cull of every crocodile within 100km of Darwin, but Ms O'Sullivan, who went on to start her own crocodile farm to sell handbags and jewellery, said she now believes that safety education, relocating problem crocs, and egg harvesting are more effective.
'It's still very traumatic, and it's still very deep-seated in our hearts,' O'Sullivan told the ABC.
'(But culling) is going to be giving a false sense of security ... My biggest thing has always been education.'
Briony (pictured) had been swimming with her sister and two friends when she failed to resurface
The crocodile responsible for the attack was never located but, in his findings, coroner Greg Cavanagh said he was confident of the cause of death.
The area where the children had been swimming, Black Jungle Swamp, was known to have crocodiles and the other children had seen a large bubble immediately after Briony jumped into the water followed by the flash of a crocodile tale.
The children should not have been swimming there but, as it was put in news reports at the time, 'kids will be kids' and it was a 'tragic misadventure'.
Several police officers who also had young children risked their own lives by wading chest deep into the creek in the hours after Briony disappeared and had to be dragged out by other officers hours later.
Her partial remains were found downstream the next day.
Despite evidence being given at the inquest that crocodile numbers had increased to up to 150,000 in the Northern Territory in the years before the attack, Mr Cavanagh concluded that culling would not work and would lead to complacency.
Mr Cavanagh said that as part of the Top End community, residents must acknowledge that dangerous, man-eating animals lived among humans.
'There is a balance to be achieved between the ethical and sustainable treatment of crocodiles and the safety of the public,' he said.
'The current crocodile management plan prepared and approved by the Northern Territory
