This is the insane moment a Danish tourist risked his life by climbing on top of a 650kg, 4.7m-long saltwater croc.
Posted on YouTube, the 50-second clip shows 22-year-old Niels Jensen using a wallaby carcass to lure the enormous crocodile closer. Then, as the apex predator eats the bait, Jensen climbs on top of its back, turns to the camera and… smiles.
The video was apparently filmed as Jensen travelled through a wildlife park east of Darwin. The North Territory’s Department of Tourism and Culture slammed the dangerous stunt: “Saltwater crocodiles are large and potentially dangerous animals and we encourage everyone to be croc-wise at all times,” acting director of operations, Tracy Duldig, told CairnsPost.com.au. “The behaviour shown in this video is dangerous and reckless, and we do not support this type of interaction with crocodiles.”
According to Newsweek, Jensen is traveling and working in the area after completing a wildlife management course.
“After seeing what a crocodile is capable of doing, I don’t think it was dangerous, I know (it was),” he said. “Even with a crocodile like this that (is) used to humans, is it a scary feeling sitting on something that could kill you in a fraction of a second.”
Jensen had never seen a saltwater croc — the largest of all living reptiles – before coming to Australia, reported the Cairns Post. Nevertheless, he’s apparently earned a new nickname: the “Danish Crocodile Dundee”.
“I don’t consider myself that, but a lot of my friends do,” he said. “In my opinion I am just doing what I like. But not many people understand why I’m doing it. Most of them call me a little crazy for travelling Down Under to wrestle with crocodiles.”
Jensen might have escaped potential disaster at the jaws of a crocodile, but he might not escape an investigation about this incident. But it’s the use of a wallaby as bait that authorities are probing: “This is a protected species and it is illegal to take or interfere with protected wildlife,” Duldig told abc.net.au. “Heavy penalties can apply. The Department… will investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident.”