Latest Crocodile Stories

An Australian man said he and his wife got a major surprise when they found a crocodile taking up residence in their backyard pool. Steve Sanderson said immediately after his wife, Karen, jumped into their saltwater pool this week, he noticed a crocodile hanging out at the pool's bottom, the Northern Territory News said in its Wednesday edition. "He was obviously a croc -- you could see his teeth hanging out the side of his mouth when he had it shut,'' Sanderson said. Sanderson said his wife...

By KRISTEN GELINEAU SYDNEY, Australia - A 7-year-old boy broke into a popular Outback zoo, fed a string of animals to the resident crocodile and bashed several lizards to death with a rock, the zoo's director said today. The 30-minute rampage, caught on the zoo's security camera, happened early Wednesday after the boy jumped a security fence at the Alice Springs Reptile Center in central Australia, said zoo director Rex Neindorf. The child then went on a killing spree, bashing three...

A 7-year-old boy allegedly broke into a reptile farm in Australia and fed 10 live reptiles that were the farm's main exhibits to the resident crocodile. Police said they couldn't file any charges against the boy, who also allegedly bludgeoned three lizards to death in their pens, The Australian reported Friday. Security camera footage reportedly captured the youngster's 35-minute rampage through the Alice Springs Reptile Center in Australia's Northern Territory Wednesday. Center Director Rex...

The Emmy-winning 9-year-old daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin is getting her own doll. The 10-inch Bindi Irwin doll will cost $15 to $20, with a portion going to help fund efforts to breed endangered species and rescue animals. They are expected to be in stores in September. (c) 2008 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Crocodiles are ferocious creatures that will eat snakes, buffalo, cattle and even people. New research explains crocodiles' spectacular method of digesting large meals that lets them eat 23 percent of their body weight at once, bones and all. If people could gorge like crocodiles, a 130-pound woman could down a 30-pound hamburger in one sitting. The secret behind this champion eating is a heart valve that crocs control neurologically, which lets blood bypass the lungs and...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Steve Irwin, the quirky Australian naturalist who won worldwide acclaim, has died in a marine accident off Australia's northeast coast, local media reported on Monday. Queensland state government sources quoted by Australian Associated Press (AAP) said Irwin, 44, whose television show "The Crocodile Hunter" won international acclaim and popularized the phrase "Crikey," was believed to have been killed by a stingray barb that pierced his chest. He was filming an...

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - An eight-year-old aboriginal girl was feared killed in a crocodile attack as she collected water from a river in Australia's remote Arnhem Land region, police said on Sunday. "She was fishing with family and it is believed she went to the river's edge to collect water when she was taken by the croc," a police spokeswoman said. The attack happened on the Blythe River, between Maningrida and Ramingining, about 500 km (310 miles) east of Australia's northern city of...

By Ed StoddardMKHUZE GAME RESERVE, South Africa -- Humans and big beasts have lived side by side in Africa since the dawn of our species but rapid population growth is now stoking friction with dangerous animals, experts say."In general terms, I think with increasing human populations we will inevitably see an increase in conflict between humans and wildlife," said Jeff McNeely, chief scientist with the Swiss-based World Conservation Union.Sub-Saharan Africa's population rose by 2...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Scientists on Wednesday unveiled 11 skeletons of prehistoric crocodiles and said their discovery suggests that an ancient land bridge once linked South America to Indo-Pakistan. The fossilized skeletons of the Baurusuchus salgadoensis appear to be closely related to another ancient crocodile species, the Pabwehshi pakistanesis discovered in Pakistan, scientists from Rio de Janeiro's Federal University said. "This discovery really proves that South America was at...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- The discovery of a nearly intact fossil of a prehistoric crocodile is teaching scientists what the world was like before the continents were separated by oceans, a Brazilian paleontologist said. A reproduction of the previously unknown creature - dubbed Uberabasuchus Terrificus, or the terrible crocodile of Uberaba - was unveiled Wednesday at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Uberabasuchus lived 70 million years ago and was smaller than today's...