Earlier we heard from ‘Lionman’ Hubert Johnson who was attacked by a crocodile and lived to tell the tale. Sadly he is one of the first because the other two reported attacks from crocodiles ended fatally; the most recent being in 2001 when Jamaal Swift was attacked near his home in the Belama area. Today two fearless crocodile hunters brothers Tony and Joe Garel from the Belize Vivarium went into the pond near Johnson’s home looking for the crocodile which dared to test Belize's ‘Lionman.’ Here's how the search went.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Upclose it looks mean and menacing with its sharp teeth, thickly ridged skin, and powerful tail. But this afternoon it took crocodile hunters Joe and Tony Garel just about half hour to fish this approximately 90 pound crocodile out of the water, subdue him, tie him up, and eventually drag him out. Tony Garel says there is no way of knowing if this is the crocodile that attacked Hubert Johnson but they do know the croc made a mistake when it attacked Johnson.
Tony Garel, Belize Vivarium
“Normally speaking the crocodiles in Belize, the two species that are here, are not particularly aggressive crocodiles. When attacks occur we need to investigate and see why and what are the circumstances around it. In this case I understand Mr. Johnson normally uses this lagoon early in the morning to his training and swimming. And early in the morning and training and swimming by himself probably the crocodile saw it as an opportunity not realizing it was a big person. That’s probably why he released him after biting him once...in my opinion it was a mistake on the croc’s part.”
KS: A mistake?
Tony Garel,
“Yes a mistake.”
And it could have been a deadly mistake since most people do not live to tell their tales. Garel admits this sub-adult male which they captured today is small and with the size that Johnson described, Belize’s crocodile expert says the Lionman could have been a dead man.
Tony Garel,
“Not many people escape the jaws of a crocodile so Mr. Johnson has a story to tell for the rest of his life and to his grandchildren.”
KS: The one you caught this afternoon is a fairly young crocodile right?
Tony Garel,
“I wouldn’t say young since this croc is certainly sexually mature and can breed. They get a lot bigger than this but whether or not this is the croc that actually bit Mr. Johnson we will never know.”
And since crocs don’t prey on humans, Garel says it’s all a matter of understanding when and why these predators attack.
Tony Garel, Crocodile Hunter
“What you need to realize is that this is their territory and we are encroaching on it and we should respect that and find some way that we can co-exist together.”
Or you can simply realize that wherever there is a calm body of water like in this manmade pond, there is likely a crocodile lurking somewhere within.
The captured crocodile will be taken in the by the Forestry Department. We note that crocodiles are a protected species in Belize.