ABSTRACT
The film Invasion of the Crocodiles, 2007, first shown on BBC Natural World in 2007, took its title from the assertion that ‘Australia’s deadly saltwater crocs are making a dramatic comeback [and] are spreading in alarming numbers’. Publicity for the film stated that ‘hundreds of cattle are being killed, and most worrying of all, attacks on people are increasing every year, often in places where crocs were previously unknown’ (BBC, 2007). These brief statements bring up a series of issues central to the idea of ecological invasions, including the distinction between desirable and undesirable animals, and the spatial and temporal dimensions of the concept of invasions. However, in this case the desirable animals are introduced, and the undesirable ones are ‘native’.
