2023-11-09 20:45:00
Colin Deveraux is in his mid-60s, an experienced livestock farmer from Australia’s Northern Territory. In the tropical north of Australia, even small children know about the dangers that lurk there: poisonous snakes and, above all, the deadly saltwater crocodiles. These live in the sea as well as in the waters further inland. Warning signs on rivers, beaches and water bodies, the so-called billabongs, point this out. Deveraux also knows about the dangers, but in the daily grind he forgot some of the precautionary measures.
So when he wanted to build a fence near the Finniss River last month, he stopped on the bank of a billabong. The water level there had dropped significantly, and some fish were still floundering in the middle of the water, when suddenly a saltwater crocodile over three meters tall rose out of the water and pounced on the Australian. “I took two steps and the dirty bastard [das Krokodil] clinging to my right foot,” Deveraux told Australian broadcaster ABC. The reptile grabbed him hard and shook him “like a rag doll”. The Australian flew backwards into the water and the crocodile began to pull him into the billabong.
Barely lasted eight seconds
Deveraux fought back with all his might: First he tried to kick the crocodile in the ribs with his left foot, he reported. When this didn’t work, he tried to bite the animal back. “I found myself in such an awkward position,” he recalled. “Coincidentally, my teeth hit his eyelid.” The eyelid was quite thick – a bit like “holding on to leather.” But the bite in the eye was successful and the crocodile let go of him. “I guess everything happened in about eight seconds,” he said.
As soon as he escaped the predator’s grasp, Deveraux wasted no time in jumping away and running as fast as he could to his car. “It followed me for a while, maybe four meters, but then stopped,” he said. He reported grabbing a towel and rope to stop the bleeding. His brother then took him to hospital in Darwin, 130 kilometers away. The Australian was treated there for about a month. Because even if the bite itself didn’t kill him, the numerous bacteria that got into his wound through the crocodile bite could have done so afterwards – pathogens from the muddy water mixed with duck droppings and the crocodile teeth themselves. I had over ten days The open wound on his leg had to be rinsed again and again, said Deveraux.
Crocodile will not attack anyone anymore
At the beginning of November, the Australian received a skin transplant and since then things have been looking up again, as he reported to the ABC. He said he could feel his toes. The doctors also hope that he can be released from the hospital soon. The crocodile that attacked him has now been removed from the billabong. It is not known whether it was taken to one of the crocodile farms where the animals are bred to make leather products from their skin or to use their meat, or whether it was euthanized.
Deveraux is well aware that he was extremely lucky. The saltwater or saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven meters long, are the largest and most dangerous predators on the fifth continent and can also walk on land. Although they appear extremely sluggish when lying in the water or on the muddy shore, the reptiles can be extremely agile – not only in the water as skilled and fast swimmers, but also on land, where they move much faster than expected. Anyone who feels too safe in a boat is also mistaken, because crocodiles can jump and lift their front bodies quite high out of the water. They give no warning of an attack and quickly pull their victim under the water with the so-called death roll. In doing so, they throw even large prey animals such as water buffaloes off balance and ultimately drown them.
Often recklessness and alcohol are involved
Just in April, a man was attacked and killed by a crocodile while fishing on the Kennedy River on the Cape York Peninsula in the Australian state of Queensland. And accidents have occurred again and again in recent years – carelessness or alcohol often led to them. One of the most well-known incidents in recent years is the death of 23-year-old German student Isabel von Jordan, who was attacked by a saltwater crocodile in October 2002. She was one of nine European vacationers who went swimming at night with the tour guide.
The student was the only one attacked; her sister, who was also in the water, survived the incident. The tour guide later had to answer in court. In principle, crocodile attacks on humans are rare in Australia, although saltwater crocodiles have increased significantly in the tropical north since they were placed under species protection in 1971. More than 100,000 animals are now said to be populating Australia’s Top End again.
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