Sydney: Forget horses, or camels for that matter. Ever tried riding a crocodile?
That's what a 36-year-old Australian man had in mind when he decided to scale the fence of a crocodile enclosure on Monday night and take a five-metre crocodile named 'Fatso' for a ride.
The drunken Aussie jumped over a wildlife compound's fence after being thrown out of a pub in the northwestern city of Broome. Once inside, he attempted to sit on the back of the massive saltwater reptile.
"He first climbed into a compound containing two female crocodiles, before approaching a five-metre long male called Fatso," a police spokeswoman said."
The man was bitten on his right leg as he tried to sit on its back. He managed to escape and make his way back to the pub, where an ambulance was called."
Manager of the pub Mark Phillips said staff told him that the man reappeared at about 11pm with bits of bark hanging off him and flesh gouging out of his limbs.
"They said he had chunks out of legs and things like that," Phillips told thewest.com.au website. The man underwent surgery for severe lacerations and is now recovering.
Park owner Malcolm Douglas said he was lucky to have survived the encounter with the 800-kilogramme croc.
"The crocodile didn't kill that guy because it was jammed in the corner," Douglas told thewest. Douglas said Fatso, one of the largest reptiles in the park, could crush a man with a single bite.
An average of two people are killed each year in Australia by aggressive saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven metres long and weigh more than a tonne.
