All articles tagged with #crocodile
A crocodile at Adventure Park in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, dragged a handler into a pool as he tried to feed it a chicken; the man was trapped in the crocodile’s jaws for more than an hour and died at a hospital on Sunday. Police shot the animal to free him, and the park was closed as witnesses described the harrowing scene and the victim’s suffering.
Three-year-old boy seriously injured after falling into a crocodile enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst in Cambridgeshire; he remains in critical but stable condition as police arrest a 30-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder (bailed). Zoo staff, including Tracey Johnson, rescued him; crocodiles were not seized and the Tropical House was closed as investigators review CCTV and interview staff. The boy was treated at the scene and transported to Addenbrooke's Hospital.
The wife of a zoo owner reportedly jumped into a crocodile enclosure to pull a toddler out after a stranger threw the child into the pit; bystander responders helped secure the child, who received medical care as officials investigate the incident.
A 3-year-old boy was pulled from a crocodile enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst Zoo in Cambridgeshire, England, and is in critical but stable condition after staff members rushed him to hospital. Police arrested a 30-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder; he was later bailed as detectives continue investigating how the child ended up in the enclosure. The zoo closed the Tropical House during the inquiry and said it will reassess safety practices going forward.
A three-year-old boy was critically injured after ending up in a crocodile enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst near Huntingdon. He was pulled from the enclosure by zoo staff, treated on site and taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in a critical but stable condition. A 30-year-old man from Norfolk was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and has since been bailed and deemed unfit for interview. Police are reviewing CCTV to establish how long the boy was in the enclosure; crocodiles were not seized, and the Tropical House was closed out of respect. The zoo remains licensed and investigators continue to probe the incident.
South African authorities euthanised a large crocodile and retrieved a Portuguese businessman’s remains from its stomach, confirming the victim as Gabriel Batista, 59, who disappeared after his vehicle was swept away while crossing a partially submerged bridge over the Komati River. The crocodile, about 600 kg and five metres long, was airlifted for examination and its stomach also contained several clothing items; identity was confirmed by DNA analysis as the investigation continues.
A missing 59-year-old South African businessman, Gabriel Batista, who was swept into floodwaters, was found inside a crocodile that police shot and airlifted; a necropsy confirmed human remains inside (identified by Batista’s ring), and six other pairs of shoes recovered from the crocodile have raised concerns about additional victims and possible further crocodiles in the area.
South African police recovered the missing businessman’s remains after an officer was lowered from a helicopter into a crocodile-infested Komati River; the crocodile suspected of eating him was killed, remains were found in its intestines, DNA tests will confirm identity, and six different shoes were also recovered.
South Africa’s police, led by Captain Johan “Pottie” Potgieter, were forced to lower a diver from a helicopter into a crocodile-infested Komati River in a bid to find a businessman swept away by floods. The massive crocodile believed to have eaten the missing man was killed, and remains and six different types of footwear were recovered from its intestines; DNA testing will confirm whether the remains belong to the victim.
A 52-year-old Zambian fisherman, Dean Nyirenda, was killed by a crocodile after fleeing a herd of elephants near the Luangwa River in eastern Zambia; he struck the crocodile with a stick and, with help from two companions, dragged himself from the stream but died from heavy bleeding, highlighting ongoing human-wildlife conflicts in an area with a high crocodile presence; authorities are considering measures like protective fences near wildlife hotspots.
Cassius, the world's largest captive crocodile who lived over 100 years, died in 2024 due to an infection caused by a long-standing injury from a boat propeller in the 1980s, which eventually ruptured after decades of dormancy, highlighting the effects of old age on health.
Scientists discovered Australia's oldest crocodile eggshells from 55 million years ago, belonging to a bizarre, tree-hunting crocodile species called Wakkaoolithus godthelpi, which exhibited unique terrestrial and semi-arboreal behaviors, providing insights into prehistoric ecosystems and crocodile evolution.
Paleontologists in Egypt discovered Wadisuchus kassabi, the earliest known long-snouted dyrosaurid crocodile from about 80 million years ago, indicating that Africa was the origin of seagoing crocs and pushing back the timeline for their diversification.
A well-preserved fossil of a 67-million-year-old Argentine dinosaur named Joaquinraptor reveals it was an apex predator that had recently consumed a crocodile, providing new insights into the lesser-known megaraptorans and their hunting behaviors during the late Cretaceous period.
A 70-million-year-old hypercarnivorous crocodile-like predator named Kostensuchus atrox was discovered in Argentina, indicating it hunted dinosaurs and played a significant role in Cretaceous ecosystems alongside other large predators like the megaraptor Maip macrothorax.