A crocodile handler has died after the reptile clamped its jaws on his legs and dragged him into a pool during a feeding demonstration at a Papua New Guinea wildlife park, leaving him trapped for more than an hour as bystanders watched in horror.
The man, who had worked at Adventure Park in Port Moresby for about two years, passed away Sunday morning at 3 Mile General Hospital from injuries sustained in the Saturday afternoon attack, according to reports. He was originally from the Western Islands in northern Papua New Guinea.
Eyewitness Gibson John described the scene to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, recounting how the handler had brought a chicken to the fence when the crocodile struck. “He brought the chicken to the fence and the crocodile attacked the person and tried to bring him into the pool,” John said.
The harrowing footage that emerged shows the worker desperately clinging to the side of the pool while his legs appear caught in the beast’s jaws. He grasped a pole extended by a bystander as another person at the edge held onto his arms while he groaned in agony.
John painted a devastating picture of the man’s final conscious moments. “He was in severe pain but he couldn’t scream. He couldn’t speak properly at that time. It was the pain I could see from his eyes,” he said.
“The only thing I could hear him say was, ‘I haven’t done anything wrong.'”
A large crowd had gathered around the enclosure to watch the demonstration when the attack occurred. Police ultimately shot the reptile to free the man, and visitors were ushered out amid the chaos, according to News.com.au.
John said he was later told the handler had lost a leg before St John Ambulance transported him to the hospital.
The park, which Papua New Guinea’s official travel website promotes as a “premier family attraction, offering a fun-filled day of rides, wildlife, gardens, and outdoor adventure,” has been closed until further notice. Staff who worked alongside the victim gathered at a funeral home on Sunday.
Adventure Park regularly conducts crocodile feeding demonstrations that involve close interaction between handlers and the animals.
The fatal mauling comes roughly a year after a separate crocodile incident made headlines in Florida, where Satellite Beach resident Zach Spurlock encountered an 11-foot crocodile swimming through a canal with a large dog in its mouth. “I got a text from a friend that was walking with their baby in a stroller, and 10 feet away is this 11-foot crocodile swimming with a Golden Retriever-type breed in it’s mouth. And so at that point I couldn’t help but go there,” Spurlock told local media at the time.
