Bali isn’t normally known for dangerous wildlife, but recent footage of a huge crocodile being hauled off a popular tourist beach by locals has made some holidaymakers nervous.
One of the main reasons people say they don’t want to visit Australia (mostly Americans) is that they’re scared of the animals. To be fair, the Land Down Under is home to a fair few scary creatures, from the world’s most venomous spiders and snakes to huge sharks and yes, crocs – but it’s a bit of an overblown fear.
But it turns out that even on holidays overseas, Australians can’t escape the risk of being attacked by some deadly animal.
An Aussie tourist has made waves online after sharing footage of a huge crocodile turning up in the surf off Padma Beach in Legian, located between the tourist hotspots of Kuta and Seminyak to the popular Facebook group Bali Bogans.
WATCH a crocodile turn up on a Bali beach below.
Wollongong local Nicole Gonzales, who is on holiday with her husband and 12-year-old daughter, shared the clip (which has been making the rounds online) saying “First time for everything! Just saw a crocodile wash up on Legian Beach.”
Not only were Aussies on the ground shocked by the croc, but commenters online have also been taken aback, with one saying “new fear unlocked in Bali.” Locals have been more sanguine about it, with one joking “nature is healing”.
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Thankfully, no one got hurt. As you can see from the video, lifeguards and other locals wasted no time restraining and carrying the huge reptile away from the beach.
The crocodile, which was reportedly around 3m long, was safely evacuated by the Denpasar Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), with a spokesman for the lifeguards suggesting that it had escaped from captivity, Coconuts Bali reports.
According to biologist and crocodile attack expert Brandon Sideleau, there are no established crocodile populations remaining in Bali, explaining that while the saltwater crocodile is native to Bali, it went extinct there at some point during the past 50 years.
“In recent years sightings of individual saltwater crocodiles have become more common in both Bali and Java, and there now appears to be a small resident population in southern Lombok and possibly southern Sumbawa. Unfortunately, there is not really enough habitat left in Bali to support anything more than a very small population,” he relates.
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