An egg collector was brought to the hospital after being attacked by a crocodile in a remote Northern Territory River.
Thursday, a crocodile bit the man’s leg near a station along the Daly River, south of Darwin, causing him significant injuries.
He was able to escape and was carried to Royal Darwin Hospital by St John Ambulance after being flown out of the area by a private chopper.
The man was collecting eggs near a river in the Northern Territory when the dinosaur ambushed him from behind and bit his leg (file image)
Northern Territory Police acknowledged in a statement that the man’s injuries are not life-threatening and that he is currently receiving surgery.
It is believed that he was employed by a company that harvests crocodile eggs, and NT WorkSafe is investigating the matter.
Crocodile egg collectors can earn $30 per egg, or $1,800 from a single clutch containing up to 60 eggs.
The licensed harvesters are typically lowered on lines from helicopters to collect the eggs from the riverbank mulch piles used as nests by the critters.
The crocodiles are then moved to farms where they are bred.
According to the NT Government’s Crocwise program, while crocodile attacks are uncommon, they can occur, and the risk is greatest between September and May, during breeding season, or if the animal perceives that they or their nests are in danger.
The website notes, “You should always be aware of the risk of a saltwater crocodile attack in all Top End waterways.”
A 22-year-old spearfisherman in Nhulunbuy, Arnhem Land, east of Darwin, escaped an assault by a crocodile in March of last year.
And only last week, NT Parks and Wildlife Rangers captured a 3.6-meter crocodile in a croc trap at a popular swimming site in Litchfield.
The remote Daly River in the Northern Territory, where the guy collected crocodile eggs (photo)
»Daly River crocodile attack sends man to hospital for emergency surgery«