Adelaide River Jumping Crocodiles

The Adelaide River holds a dense population of estuarine crocodiles, the largest living reptile, and several operators run cruises where meat is held on a pole above the water and crocodiles rise vertically to take it, propelling themselves with their tails so that most of the body clears the surface, a behaviour they use naturally to take prey from overhanging branches. The animals are wild and unrestrained, and some regulars are known individually and by size, with several exceeding four metres. Whistling kites and sea eagles follow the boats for scraps. The practice is contested by some wildlife scientists on the grounds that it trains large predators to associate boats with food.

The main sights

• The jumping crocodiles - wild estuarine crocodiles rising vertically from the water.
• The size of the animals - individuals over four metres alongside the boat.
• The raptors - whistling kites and sea eagles working the boat.
• The river system - mangrove-lined tidal water on the Adelaide floodplain.

When to go

May to October, the dry season, when cruises run most reliably; the wet brings flooding and reduced schedules. Crocodiles are more active in warm weather and less responsive in the coolest part of the dry.

Practical notes

Feeding wild crocodiles from boats is criticised by some researchers as conditioning dangerous animals, and visitors may want to weigh that. The cruises are short, around an hour, and heavily commercial. Swimming anywhere in this river system would be fatal.

Nearby

Fogg Dam lies close; Kakadu is further east along the Arnhem Highway.