Australia Is Fighting Over Whether or Not to Kill 'Man-Eating' Sharks
Australia is in the midst of a battle over whether to cull "man-eating" sharks on the Great Barrier Reef as one of its states argues for a change in federal law so that it can continue the practice.
In a win for wildlife campaigners, the government of the state of Queensland—located in the northeast of the country—lost a federal court appeal Wednesday in which it was fighting for the right to continue implementing a controversial shark management program, The Guardian reported.
This program involved the deployment of nets and drum lines—a type of unmanned aquatic trap—to catch and kill sharks representing 19 different species, in an attempt to protect swimmers.
Critics of the program say there is no scientific evidence that the "lethal component" of the program reduces the risk of unprovoked shark attacks on humans. Furthermore, they say these methods lead to the unnecessary deaths of large numbers of sharks, harming the marine ecosystem.
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