Man, bitten after crocodile ride, goes back to pub
Police said they are surprised the crocodile did not inflict worse damage.
The 36-year-old man, who police said had just been thrown out of a pub for being drunk, told officials he scaled the barbed wire fence surrounding the Broome Crocodile Park in remote north-west Australia because he wanted to give the 16-foot Fatso a pat.
“He has attempted to sit on its back and the croc has taken offence to that and has spun around and bit him on the right leg,” Broome Police Sergeant Roger Haynes said.
The saltwater crocodile then inexplicably let the man go, and he climbed back over the fence to safety, police said.
The man was bitten on his right leg as he tried to sit on its back. He managed to escape and make his way back to the pub, where an ambulance was called.
Pub manager Mark Phillips said staff told him that the man reappeared at about 11pm with bits of bark hanging off him and flesh gouged out of his limbs.
“They said he had chunks out of legs and things like that,” Phillips told thewest.com.au website.
An ambulance was then called.
The man, who was a tourist from eastern Australia and whose name was not released, suffered some “very nasty lacerations” and was taken to a hospital, Sgt Haynes said.
“Saltwater crocodiles... once they get hold of you, are not renowned for letting you go,” Sgt Haynes said. “He’s lucky to have escaped with his life.”
Park owner Malcolm Douglas said the man was lucky to have survived his encounter with the (1,800-pound) crocodile.
“The crocodile didn’t kill that guy because it was jammed in the corner,” Douglas said.
Douglas said Fatso, one of the largest reptiles in the park, could crush a man with a single bite.
“The man who climbed the fence was fortunate because Fatso was a bit more sluggish than normal, due to the cooler nights we have been experiencing in Broome,” said Mr Douglas.
“If it had been warmer and Fatso was more alert, we would have been dealing with a fatality.
“No person in their right mind would try to sit on a 5m crocodile.”
The 36-year-old man’s name was withheld by police because “he’s suffered enough embarrassment and injury”, police said.
An average of two people are killed each year in Australia by aggressive saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to 23 feet long and weigh more than a tonne.
They became increasingly common in Australia’s tropical north since hunting that almost extinguished the species was banned in 1971.
