Man bitten by 'Fatso' crocodile

[Legolas]

Man bitten by 'Fatso' crocodile

Fatso, a 16ft saltwater crocodile, lies motionless next to a torch dropped by a drunken tourist who tried to sit on his back (AP)

Tuesday July 13 2010

A man ejected from a pub in Australia broke into a zoo and climbed on to the back of a crocodile named Fatso, which bit him on the leg but then let him go. 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 16ft Fatso a pat.

"He has attempted to sit on its back and the crocodile has taken offence to that and has spun around and bit him on the right leg," 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, who was a tourist from eastern Australia and whose name was not released, suffered some "very nasty lacerations" and was taken to a hospital, Mr Haynes said. "Saltwater crocodiles... once they get hold of you are not renowned for letting you go," Mr Haynes added.

"He's lucky to have escaped with his life." Saltwater crocodiles are the world's largest reptile and can grow up to 23ft. They became increasingly common in Australia's tropical north since hunting that almost extinguished the species was banned in 1971.

Press Association

 

[Cao Pi]

'Crocodile Dumb-dee' says he wanted to play with croc


'Crocodile Dumb-dee' says he wanted to play with croc
(AFP) – 1 hour ago

SYDNEY — An Australian man dubbed "Crocodile Dumb-dee" for trying to ride a huge crocodile after a drinking spree described Wednesday how he just wanted to play with the animal. Michal Newman, 36, said he climbed into the enclosure of "Fatso", a five-metre (yard) saltwater croc who lives at a northern wildlife park, to pat him and sit on his back.

"I thought to myself, 'Well, I will jump the fence and go from behind its tail and pat it and sit on its back'," Newman told public broadcaster ABC. "And within like one split second before I even slightly touched its back, it already had me by the leg," he said. Media reports said Newman tried to drip beer into the mouths of two female crocodiles before moving onto the giant Fatso.

He said he shouted at Fatso to let him go before escaping from the pen and returning to a nearby pub with severe leg injuries, where he drank a beer while waiting for an ambulance. But Newman, who has been recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery for his bite wounds, vowed never to approach a crocodile again.

Broome Crocodile Park owner Malcolm Douglas has credited Newman's escape to relatively cold conditions, with the temperature falling to 22 degrees C (71 F) overnight. "They're cold-blooded animals, so their reflexes slow down," he said.

<!-- google_ad_section_end(name=article) --> Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.