Mr Fukuda, a leading crocodile researcher, uses a variety of tools to monitor crocodile populations in the wild and reports his findings to the Northern Territory and Australian Governments.
Highlights:
- Yusuke Fukuda monitors wild crocodile populations in the Northern Territory
- He has written a book called Moshimo Hitokui Wani ni Kamaretara! (What if you got bitten by a cannibal crocodile!)
- The Japanese-born wildlife scientist says his motivation for researching crocodiles has shifted over time
Source: Yusuke Fukuda
The research is conducted in eight large rivers in the Northern Territory, and sometimes in Kakadu National Park.
He and one or two colleagues go upstream on a small boat at night, and they use spotlights to reflect in the eyes of crocodiles to count the numbers.
Source: Yusuke Fukuda
Mr Fukuda, an avid photographer who regularly shares his crocodile snaps on , recalls the moment he fell in love with the giant reptiles.
He says he was a high school student in Tokyo without any dreams or goals when an animal documentary on TV exposed him to the wonders of wild crocodiles – and the valuable work of researchers in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Ever since that day, he was determined that he would go down under in the future and become a crocodile researcher there.
“I cannot comprehend why, but the moment I saw the crocodile on the TV screen, I felt a shock as if I were struck by lightning, and ever since all I can think of is crocodiles,” Mr Fukuda says.
Source: Yusuke Fukuda
Source: Yusuke Fukuda
Though hunting once pushed crocodiles to the brink of extinction in the Northern Territory, there is today estimated to be over 100,000 in the wild.
According to Mr Fukuda, crocodiles are rare among reptiles in that they can vocalise. He says that when they become adults, they claim their territory to other crocodiles by producing a low voice and growl, and occasionally they growl and bark as a threat to humans when they approach too close by boat. 
He also is the author of Moshimo Hitokui Wani ni Kamaretara! (What if you got bitten by a cannibal crocodile!), a book written in Japanese.
Source: Yusuke Fukuda
In his book, he writes that it is said that crocodiles can also sense the Earth’s magnetic field with their inner ears.
He explains that crocodiles have a homing ability which means they can return to their capture sites after being shifted and released at a distant place.
Source: Yusuke Fukuda
However, it is not always the case. Mr Fukuda says he thinks it to be interesting that they do not return when confronted with complicated terrain or complex and rapid ocean currents.
He says it is likely that they only understand the direction but not a whole detailed geography of somewhere they have never visited. As a result, they sometimes get lost, or give up when faced with difficult terrain, ending up in a new place.
Source: Yusuke Fukuda
“For a long time, my personal desire to know and study about crocodiles has been strong. But in the past few years, I have felt more strongly about wanting to do research that will lead to the conservation of those crocodiles in the wild, rather than for myself,” says Mr Fukuda.
Imperceptibly, it shifted from ‘for myself’ to ‘for the crocodiles’.
Source: Yusuke Fukuda
