CANBERRA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) are concerned that crocodiles could be consuming illicit drugs that have been flushed down toilets.
News Corp Australia reported recently that the NT Power and Water Corporation has started monitoring crocodiles and other animals that are known to frequent Darwin's waste ponds to ensure they are not being affected by the substances.
Adam Britton, one of Australia's leading crocodile experts from Charles Darwin University (CDU), said that a crocodile would have to consume a large quantity of a substance for it to have a quantifiable effect.
Saltwater crocodiles can grow to six metres in length and a weight exceeding 1,000 kilograms.
"There's plenty of evidence to show that alligators can accumulate pesticides and other biotoxins which can affect their health, but the scale of that is considerable and presumably far greater than the relatively small amount of meth flushed down the toilet," he said.
"It seems unlikely that enough drugs would be flushed down the (toilet) in the NT that it would start affecting salties, and I don't think anyone knows how these drugs might affect crocodiles anyway."
A spokesperson for Power and Water told News Corp that no adverse impacts of drug consumption have been observed in the crocodiles.
"As part of our day-to-day work, Power and Water's monitoring programs include assessment of the behaviour of fish and other aquatic animals in the vicinity of the discharge. No adverse impacts have been observed," they said.
