💾 Archived View for gmi.noulin.net › mobileNews › 2183.gmi captured on 2024-03-21 at 19:10:08. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2023-01-29)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2010-07-14 03:57:37
Park owner Malcolm Douglas said the man had been "stupid"
A drunk man who climbed into a crocodile enclosure in Australia and attempted
to ride a 5m (16ft) long crocodile has survived his encounter.
The crocodile, called Fatso, bit the 36-year-old man's leg, tearing chunks of
flesh from him as he straddled the reptile.
He received surgery to serious wounds to his leg and is recovering in hospital,
police say.
He had been chucked out of a pub in the town of Broome for being too drunk.
The man, who was not named by the police, climbed over a fence and tried to sit
on the 800kg (1,800lb) saltwater crocodile.
Continue reading the main story
Start Quote
If it had been warmer and Fatso was more alert, we would have been dealing with
a fatality
End Quote Malcolm Douglas
"Fatso has taken offence to this and has spun around and bit this man on the
right leg," Sgt Roger Haynes of Broome police told journalists.
"The crocodile has let him go and he's been able to scale the fence again and
leave the wildlife park."
'Right mind'
Malcolm Douglas, the park's owner, said that the crocodile was capable of
crushing a man to death 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, Saltwater
crocodiles, once they get hold of you, are not renowned for letting you go."
The man staggered back to the pub bleeding heavily.
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 his legs and things like that," Mr Phillips
told The West Australian news website.
An average of two people are killed each year in Australia by aggressive
saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to 7m (23 ft) long and weigh more than
a tonne.