7am Part 1: Inside Australia's secretive crocodile skin industry
Aug 18, 2025
In this eye-opening conversation, award-winning journalist Katherine Wilson delves into Australia's controversial crocodile skin industry. She shares her shocking findings from undercover investigations in Darwin, revealing cramped conditions for crocodiles and inhumane slaughter methods. Wilson also highlights the exploitation of Indigenous workers in this lucrative trade and the complex interplay of conservation and commerce. This gripping exploration uncovers the dark side of luxury fashion, challenging our perceptions of style and ethics.
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Farms Are Industrial, Not Pastoral
- Katherine Wilson observed farms are more like manufacturing plants than pastoral farms, warehousing about 130,000 crocs across the Territory.
- She described the facilities as carceral, maximum-security places with concrete channels where crocs are submerged in small cages.
Conservation Narrative Masks Production
- Farming grew after hunting bans, using wild eggs collected by ranchers to supply factory farms from the 1980s onward.
- The industry framed this as conservation by monetising crocs, though hatchlings raised for profit rarely return to the wild.
Questionable Research Backing Industry Claims
- Much of the positive research supporting croc farming comes from industry or government figures linked to the trade.
- That raises doubts about the independence of conservation claims underpinning the industry.