NT welcomes croc hunting development HUNTERS wanting to put a Northern Territory crocodile head on their mantelpiece may soon be in with a chance, after the federal government agreed to rethink a ban on killing the animals. Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson welcomed the move by federal Environment Minister Tony Burke to let the public comment on a new plan, which would allow hunters to kill 50 crocodiles. Mr Henderson said he was very hopeful that after the comment period ends on July 25 a two-year trial will allow 50 of the Northern Territory's crocodiles to be killed by hunters seeking a trophy. He said the Northern Territory had been battling the federal government for many years on the issue. "Those 50 trophies will certainly have exponential value in the international marketplace in terms of promoting tourism here in the territory," he said. "Come to the territory and bag a croc," Mr Henderson said. He said allowing the trial would also have benefits for traditional owners in remote areas wanting to participate. Wildlife campaigner Bob Irwin recently said his famous son Steve Irwin would be turning over in his grave to think wild crocodiles could be killed by safari hunters. Can you imagine a boatload of tourists seeing some big white hunter shooting an animal that they came to photograph? Mr Irwin told ABC radio. Professor Grahame Webb who runs the Crocodylus Park in Darwin, which houses crocodiles for tourists to see, said that anything that added to crocodiles' value added to the incentives to conserve the creatures. "At the moment we kill crocodiles in the wild so that someone can own a handbag," Prof Webb said. "There is nothing different in killing a crocodile in the wild so someone can own a trophy," he said.