Crocodile attack

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Nile crocodile

Crocodile attacks on people are not uncommon in places where crocodiles are native. The Saltwater and Nile Crocodiles are responsible for more attacks and more deaths than any other wild predator that attacks humans for food.

Each year, hundreds of deadly attacks occur in Africa and Southeast Asia^{[citation needed]}.

Crocodile attacks on people in regions where those animals are not native usually make news headlines.

1 Background
2 Precautions and information
3 Some well-reported attacks
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Background

An accurate count of annual crocodile attacks on humans is difficult to obtain. Many of the areas in which humans and large crocodiles come into contact are remote, impoverished, or in areas of political unrest. Thus, crocodile attacks are not always reported to local authorities, and some reports are difficult to verify. However every year it is estimated hundreds of humans are killed by crocodiles.

The most deaths in a single crocodile attack incident may have occurred during the Battle of Ramree Island, on February 19, 1945, in what is now Burma. Nine hundred soldiers of an Imperial Japanese Army unit, in an attempt to retreat from the Royal Navy and rejoin a larger battalion of the Japanese infantry, crossed through ten miles of mangrove swamps that contained Saltwater Crocodiles. Twenty Japanese soldiers were captured alive by the British, and almost five hundred are known to have escaped Ramree. Many of the remainder may have been eaten by the crocodiles, although gunfire from the British troops was undoubtedly a contributory factor.

[edit] Precautions and information

Crocodiles become more aggressive during the mating season.
Crocodiles can move very fast over short distances on land.
Crocodiles are adept at learning and memorizing routines, such as the location of nearby campers or the routes of travelers.
In water, crocodiles tend to drag their prey under and drown them.
Crocodiles can slow their metabolism to such an extent that a tree with an intruder hiding in its branches may be guarded continuously for several weeks, without breaks for food.
Crocodiles have strong muscles for closing their jaws and holding them shut, but weak muscles for opening them.
There is a sensitive flap in a crocodile's throat, known as the glottis, which they use for breathing. As a result, as with some other predators, forcing the arm into the throat may encourage release, although this is not certain by any means and may instead lead to the arm being severed.

(Source for some of the above: [1])

Sometimes, an attacking crocodile will bite, hold on, and then rapidly spin its body to weaken its prey or tear off limbs (the 'death roll').

[edit] Some well-reported attacks

Saltwater Crocodile

Since 1990, many people have been killed by crocodiles throughout Southeast Asia and Australia.

In February 1982, an Iban village headman.
On May 22, 1992, an Iban girl, Dayang anak Bayang was killed by Bujang Senang at Pelaban River, another tributary of the great Batang Lupar River near Lingga in Sri Aman Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The killer crocodile was shot to death by several police sharpshooters and Iban hunters after a four-hour ordeal.^{[citation needed]} It was the biggest and oldest crocodile ever caught in the area.
On March 19, 2006, University of Washington medical professor Richard Root, age 68, who had moved to alleviate a shortage of physicians, was killed on a wildlife tour of the Limpopo River when a crocodile emerged from the river, grabbed Dr. Root and pulled him under.
In September 2005, Russell Harris, a 37-year-old British engineer, was killed by a large saltwater crocodile while snorkeling off Picnic Beach in Australia [2]. His body was recovered.
In August 2005, a 60-year-old man was dragged underwater by a crocodile in northeastern Australia.
In October 2002, 23-year old German student Isobel von Jordan was killed by a saltwater crocodile in Kakadu National Park, Australia.
In April 2002, 35-year-old British musician Richard Shadwell was killed by a crocodile in Borneo.
Another relatively famous, or infamous, crocodile hails from the Rusizi River and has been named Gustave. Estimated to exceed 6 meters (20 feet) in length, and to weigh in excess of 1 ton (2,000 lbs, or 900 kg) Gustave has been credited with killing some 300 people, though this is most likely an exaggeration. Numerous capture attempts have been made, including using a massive bear trap in 2002, however Gustave has managed to evade capture. Gustave is the basis of the film Primeval (originally titled "Gustave"), which follows a news team sent to Burundi to capture Gustave; while doing so they become the target of a warlord in the midst of an African civil war.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Edwards, Hugh Crocodile Attack/Dramatic True Stories of Fatal and Near-Fatal Encounters Between Humans and Crocodiles ISBN 0-06-016121-3 (1989)
Fitzgerald, Patrick Croc and Gator Attacks ISBN 0-516-23514-1 (2000)