SYDNEY - AUSTRALIAN authorities said on Thursday they are considering allowing hunters to pay to kill crocodiles as a spate of deadly attacks in the country's north has focused attention on the need for a cull.

Schoolgirl Briony Goodsell was taken by a saltwater crocodile last Sunday while swimming in the Black Jungle Swamp, near the northern city of Darwin, with her seven-year-old sister and two friends.

To cull or not to cull? THE Northern Territory's environment department said it was in favour of fee-paying hunters being allowed to shoot crocodiles, and would 'definitely be looking at' culling practices. An average of two people a year are killed in Australia by saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven metres long and weigh more than a tonne. ... more

Witnesses said they saw a crocodile's tail slap the water near the 11-year-old seconds before she disappeared, and DNA tests confirmed human remains recovered from the swamp belonged to Briony.

Local authorities said they would renew a push for limited trophy hunting of the creatures in a review of crocodile management practices, due for submission to the Australian government in coming weeks.

The proposal was rejected in 2005, but an increase in attacks has again ignited debate on the issue.

'I don't think you could let the death of (this) young girl go without doing something, and I think it's acknowledged that the culling of crocs, or the lack of culling of crocs, has sort of seen an increase in crocodiles,' said Mary Walshe, a local councillor.

'I'd take a cull over a life anytime unfortunately and I suppose that won't make a lot of people happy,' she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

'We've got to live in the Northern Territory and a big part or our lifestyle is in the waters and I think that it's paramount that human life comes first.' -- AFP