Sharks live in all the coastal waters and estuarine habitats around the 35,000 km of Australia's coast.

As the population of the country increases, many more people are entering coastal waters for recreational and commercial reasons throughout the year.

Although Australia has had a bad reputation concerning the threat of shark attacks to swimmers, the statistics do not support these fears. The Australian Shark Attack File (ASAF) has been managed at Taronga Zoo for over 30 years and aims to gather all known information on shark attacks in Australian waters, provide source material for research and education relating to the causes of attacks on humans and publish analysis of the acquired data.

Population increase since 1900:
1900 = 3.7 million
1950 = 8.3 million
1990= 17 million
2011 = 22.7 million

Black Tip Reef Sharks

In the last 50 years, there have been only 46 fatalities (0.92 per year) in Australian waters from shark attacks. Some years there are no fatalities recorded, other years there have been up to 4 a year, but the average remains around one per year. Shark attack must be viewed in perspective, there are thousands of swimmer-days that take place on our beaches, harbours and rivers each year with an estimated 100,000,000 beach visitation a year and the number is growing with both increasing population and tourism. It is inevitable someone somewhere will encounter a shark or other maine animals and these encounters sometime result in injury and on rare occasions death.

The Australian Shark Attack File is co-ordinated at Taronga Zoo and is associated with the International Shark Attack File (managed by the American Elasmobranch Society).

The aims and objectives of the Shark Attack File

• To chronicle all known information on shark attacks from Australian waters past, and present and to record future attacks.
• To provide source material for scientific study to identify the common factors relating to the causes of attacks on humans.
• To provide summary information for public education and awareness and/or publication by the media.
• To publish information resulting from analysis of the acquired data.

Criteria for inclusion

Any human/shark interaction:

• Where there is a determined attempt by a shark to attack a person;
• Where injury occurs by a shark during an attempt to attack a person;
• Where imminent contact was averted by diversionary action by the victim or others (and no injury to the human occurs)
• Where the person is alive and in the water at the time of the incident;
• Where the equipment worn or held by the person is bitten or damaged by the shark during the incident, and;
• Where there is a determined attempt by the shark to attack a kayak, surfboard or small dinghy operated by a person.

As part of a world wide study into shark behaviour, analysis of data from the Australian Shark Attack Files helps to identify the existence, or absence, of common factors relating to the cause of attacks on humans.

The research project is conducted in three stages

1. Compile information on each recorded attack in Australian waters.

2. Assimilate, categorise and transcribe data to computer database.

3. Analyse acquired data and publish results.

More research needed

This project is aimed at understanding and documenting the behaviours of sharks when they interact with humans. This information will contribute to conservation of the species and their environment through education and specific research projects. There is a need to learn more about the shark's normal behaviour as well as in circumstances of human interaction.