Where Are Wild Crocodiles?

[Thomas]

Because I plan to live rural and like to be in the nature, it's good if I know where there CAN be WILD crocodiles, because I don't want to become crocodile food   :)   when I canoe or such.

[Bruce]

Stay away from Mindanao. It is that easy.

 

If you ever get an invite to go Down Under........ Well there is where there are lots of wild crocs. Just stay on dry land, away from any marshes and river banks and you will be fine. :541:

[Bruce]

Here you go Thomas! Off Dailymail.co.uk Main difference is that you 'canoe' while this guy used a kayak. You are from the land of blue eyed, blonde women while he is a Kiwi.  

 

 

 

 

Monday, Sep 02 2013

 

Tourist trapped on Australian Island for TWO WEEKS after being stalked by a 20ft crocodile

• The tourist was trapped on remote Governor Island off West Australia
• A local man saw the traveller's flashing light and rescued him by boat
• The crocodile was described as a 'monster' and had lived there for years

By Richard Shears

PUBLISHED: 04:36 EST, 2 September 2013 | UPDATED: 08:27 EST, 2 September 2013

 

A New Zealand tourist who planned to spend a few days exploring an island in his canoe was left trapped and desperate on a hill for two weeks after being stalked by a monster crocodile.

The unfortunate traveller had set up camp on remote Governor Island, off the coast of Western Australia, intending to paddle his canoe around the island but the arrival of the 20ft-long crocodile changed all that.

Instead, he remained terrified at his campsite, which he had hurriedly set up on a hill on the 250-acre island in the hope that he was too far inland for the crocodile to reach him.

 

Terrifying a tourist: A New Zealand traveller was trapped on remote Governor Island off the West Australian coast for two weeks after he was stalked by a 20ft-long crocodile (file photo)

 

And it was only by chance that rescue came, when a light he flashed to attract attention resulted in him getting a lift in a boat to safety.

The tourist, known only as Ryan, owes his survival to local man Don McLeod, who decided to check out the light and found the distraught man 'relieved and shocked.'

 

Mr McLeod said today that 'every time he got in his little kayak, which was only about 2.5m (8ft) long, this crocodile, which has lived there for many years, chased him.

'He was desperate for water when I trotted up.'

Chance rescue: Local man Don McLeod saw the tourist's light flashing from the island and rescued him by boat from the giant reptile (file photo)

 

Mr McLeod said the crocodile was 'easily 20ft long', a measurement he said was accurate because that is the length of his boat and he has sailed past the reptile from time to time.

A yachtsman had dropped Ryan off at the island, off the north-west coast near Kalumburu, which lies between Derby and Kununurra, and it was there that the tourist had decided to use his canoe to explore the inlets.

After setting up a tent he realised he did not have enough supplies and decided to paddle the three miles back to the mainland.

But as he launched his small canoe he saw the crocodile watching him - and made good his escape back to his camp site, which he then moved to higher ground.

According to Mr McLeod, each time the Kiwi tourist tried to leave the island the crocodile 'made its presence felt, and so the fellow was left stranded there for an entire fortnight.'

It was only when Mr McLeod spotted a light on the island and decided to check it out, that he courageously set foot there.

'I'd seen a light flashing in the scrub as I came through Red Bluff, opposite Governor Island, and decided to have a look what it was.

'When I arrived Ryan came out of the bush looking distraught. He had no hat on and no shirt on.

'He was relieved and shocked and thankful someone had come along because he was running out of options pretty quickly.

'He is a very, very lucky man.'  

Ryan was given a bed at a church mission on the mainland but his whereabouts today were unknown.

 

Keen kayaker: The man had been dropped off at the island, off the north-west coast near Kalumburu, which lies between Derby and Kununurra, and it was there that the tourist had decided to use his canoe to explore the inlets

 

 

Monster presence: Trapped on the remote island in Western Australia, every time the tourist tried to leave, the crocodile 'made its presence felt, and so the fellow was left stranded there for an entire fortnight,' according to Mr McLeodhares

•  

 

Edited September 2, 2013 by Bruce

[Thomas]

Stay away from Mindanao. It is that easy.

 

If you ever get an invite to go Down Under........ Well there is where there are lots of wild crocs. Just stay on dry land, away from any marshes and river banks and you will be fine. :541:

Whole Mindanao?

Big parts of it I avoid anyway because of human crooks   :)

 

But I don't want to stay away from rivers, because I like canoeing  :)   That's a part of the reason why I asked, so I know where I can do that without risk for crocs.

[Bruce]

Whole Mindanao?

 

Well, you are already aware of the 2 legged crocs on Mindanao. So, sticking to the 4 legged kind, I would (IF YOU MUST!) go to an online Mindanao based recreation website and see what they have to offer, contact them and ask croc specific questions. Even if you do not plan to use their guide services, as local guides they may be willing to tell you when you want to know.

 

There are 2 ways to ask the questions.

 

1. I WANT to see crocs, are there any in your area where I can go canoeing and see them?

 

Asking this way you might get a more reliable answer. If they say, no, you need to go to xxxxx river 80 miles away, well that is what you want to hear.

 

2. I do NOT want to see crocs, so how safe is your area for canoeing?

 

They may not tell the truth as they do not want to scare you off and not get your money for any guide services. 

 

When I read about crocs in the Philippines, I read about the 'possibility' of (a) croc in the area. Compare this to Australia where there are crocs in most all northern rivers and the locals and government makes a real effort to warn people.  So I think there are a few crocs in Mindanao but not like in the Tarzan movies.

 

Also, remember that when you are canoeing, you are isolated and a better subject to being invited to a KIDNAPPING event. Who is being kidnapped you ask? The guy without the gun.... the white guy... the guy in the canoe...... the guy who is wary of crocs...... The guy who wished he planned a canoe trip around some other island north of Mindanao.... Yes... that guy!  

[jon1]

You will find them in the coastal waters of Mindanao on south. This one http://www.deccanherald.com/content/188877/philippines-catches-largest-crocodile-record.html is one of the largest captured (was caught in northeastern Mindanao). The more remote the place the better the odds that they will be there. 

 

I made a trip to Bongao, Tawi Tawi once and was conversing with a resident about the beautiful waters and the awesome snorkeling that they could be doing. They said that they didn't do that as there were salties around. Every year they would lose someone to a croc. 

[Thomas]

You will find them in the coastal waters of Mindanao on south. This one http://www.deccanher...ile-record.html is one of the largest captured (was caught in northeastern Mindanao). The more remote the place the better the odds that they will be there.

A SALTwater croc in the INLAND province Bunawan??  I wonder if newspapers can be trusted  :)   

I suppouse they ment more costal there. Oh it start to become scary, crocs can move far if they look for a new revire. It start to come closer to provinces, which I have as alternative settling places - until now  :)   (At the north side, parts of Agusan del Norte or Misamis Oriental.)

 

I made a trip to Bongao, Tawi Tawi once and was conversing with a resident about the beautiful waters and the awesome snorkeling that they could be doing. They said that they didn't do that as there were salties around. Every year they would lose someone to a croc.

Down there I'm more scared of kidnappers anyway   :lol:    so I will surely not go there.

 

--

Well. If I ask recreation places, I would surely ask as in p1  :)

1. I WANT to see crocs, are there any in your area where I can go canoeing and see them? Asking this way you might get a more reliable answer. If they say, no, you need to go to xxxxx river 80 miles away, well that is what you want to hear.

Also, remember that when you are canoeing, you are isolated and a better subject to being invited to a KIDNAPPING event.

Well. I will not go to the "Kidnapping areas" anyway, because when living rural they can do kidnapping at HOME too  :)   (As e g with the Aussie, who was released some months ago, and lived rural in Zamboanga  (!) where I don't even want to visit  :lol:   (At least not the south half.)

Edited September 3, 2013 by Thomas

[JJReyes]

I have seen a crocodile swimming to another island. We were in a motorized banca and I asked the fisherman to move closer so I could take a picture. He refused. 

 

The Philippines used to have lots of giant lizards. Unregulated hunting killed most of them. The last I saw in the wild was on the road to Legaspi City from Manila. While stopping to picnic at a forest reserve, we spotted one. I started walking to the car to get a camera when the stupid driver started throwing stones at the lizard. I got really pissed off. It was magnificent.

 

Now, I need to go to a zoo to view crocodiles and giant lizards. It's not the same as encountering them in the wild.

Edited September 3, 2013 by JJReyes

[Thomas]

I have seen a crocodile swimming to another island. We were in a motorized banca and I asked the fisherman to move closer so I could take a picture. He refused.

From which island to which island?

Now, I need to go to a zoo to view crocodiles and giant lizards. It's not the same as encountering them in the wild.

Just a year ago or so, Swedish TV recorded "Robinson" (="Survivor") at islands in El Nido, Palawan. There are/were lizards in human weight size.

But in difference from crocs, I don't believe they attack if they don't feel threatend.  (Similar to Swedish bears. They are much biger than people, but only attack hunters and in rare cases humans with annoying dogs  :)

Edited September 3, 2013 by Thomas

[robert k]

Crocs did not evolve where they are, they can be found great distances from where they are normally encountered, the same as a shark being caught 700 miles up a river. The state of Florida in the US had crocs and alligators at one time but few crocks remain, they are a protected species.