Ronilac u Australiji preživio napad krokodila, golim rukama mu rastvorio čeljusti i izvukao se: 'Mislio sam da je morski pas'

Čovjek je hitno prebačen u bolnicu

Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, November 23, 2020 (photograph, video still)

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A crocodile with a tire stuck around its neck for five years appeared in the river again after hiding from people for eight months in Indonesia.
 
The 13ft-long reptile was seen again in the Palu River of Central Sulawesi province on November 23.
 
Resident Bagus Mohammed found the creature swimming near the bridge connecting two villages in the area.
 
He said: "I accidentally saw him this morning near the bridge connecting Nunu and Miangas Villages.
 
"There have been many volunteers who have tried to save the crocodile. I feel sorry for him.''
 
The endangered Siamese crocodile was first seen in 2016 with the rubber tire from a Vespa scooter stuck on its body. Wildlife officials feared that the reptile could keep growing and eventually be strangled by the item, which is too strong to stretch.
 
Locals have been trying to remove the tire ever since without success. Officials have tried luring the beast out of the river with chicken but it has refused.
 
The croc was last seen in March when it gained international attention because of the tire stuck around its neck.
 
Wildlife conservationists from the US and Australia even visited the river where it was living while authorities even offered a reward to anyone who could rescue it.
 
A local rescue operation involving Australian reptile expert Matt Wright and Animal Planet television host Forrest Galante was held in February.
 
Together with local officials, they used nets and a live chicken bait to capture the animal.
 
However, the rescue operation failed due to swift river currents and the crocodile consistently moved around evading the nets.
 
The rescue was then postponed due to the pandemic.
 
Now, the crocodile has apparently grown after months of hiding which made the tyre choke it even more so authorities said they are speeding up the rescue.
 
Local Crocodile Search Task Force Head Haruna,,Image: 570856162, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no
FOTO: ViralPress/Profimedia

Marcus McGowan (51), strastveni surfer i ronilac iz Australije, preživio je bliski susret s krokodilom. Gmaz ga je napao dok je ronio nedaleko sjeverne obale australske države Queensland, prenosi CNN.

Australac je ronio sa suprugom i grupom prijatelja kada je shvatio da mu je “nečija čeljust zahvatila glavu”, a izvukao se tako što je krokodilu rukama otvorio ralje. McGowan je rekao da je prvo pomislio da ga je ugrizao morski pas, “ali kad je podignuo ruku shvatio je da je krokodil.”

“Uspio sam rastvoriti njegove čeljusti dovoljno da izvučem glavu”, rekao je. Krokodil ga je, kaže, potom ponovno pokušao napasti, ali uspio mu je pobjeći.

‘Na krivom mjestu u krivo vrijeme’

Brod koji je odvezao skupinu do lokacije za ronjenje, u blizini otočja Charles Hardy, čuo je njihovu vrisku i vratio se po njih. McGowan je hitno prebačen u bolnicu, s posjekotinama i ubodnim ranama glave i ruku.

“Jednostavno sam se našao na krivom mjestu u krivo vrijeme. Drago mi je da je napao mene, a ne nekoga od djece ili žena koje su bile sa mnom u grupi”, izjavio je.

Krokodil je, procjenjuje, bio dug dva do tri metra. Inače, morski krokodili mogu narasti do šest metara, prema podacima australskog Zoološkog vrta. Prema procjenama savezne vlade, u Australiji ima oko 100.000 slanovodnih krokodila. Odjel za okoliš Queenslanda kaže da će istražiti incident, ali i da “krokodile u otvorenom oceanu može biti teško locirati”.