Crocodile attacks on humans are common in places where large crocodilians are native to human populations.
Species involved in attacks
The two species with the most well-known reputation for preying on humans are the Nile crocodile and saltwater crocodile, and these are the perpetrators of the vast majority of both fatal and non-fatal crocodilian attacks. Each year, hundreds of deadly attacks are attributed to the Nile crocodile in Sub-Saharan Africa. Attacks by saltwater crocodiles often occur in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. Reviews indicate that at least half of all attacks by the Nile and saltwater crocodiles are fatal (in Australia, however, only about 25% of saltwater crocodile attacks are fatal). The mugger crocodile is also very dangerous to humans, killing several people in India every year and with a fatality rate that is almost as high (slightly less than half of all attacks are fatal). Unlike the predatory attacks by Nile and saltwater crocodiles, victims of mugger crocodiles are often not eaten, indicating that many attacks by this species are territorial or defensive rather than predatory.Sideleau, B., and Britton A.R.C. (2012). A preliminary analysis of worldwide crocodilian attacks. pp. 111–114. In: Crocodiles. Proceedings of the 21st Working Meeting of the Crocodile Specialist Group, Manila, Philippines. IUCN. Gland, Switzerland, Manila, Philippines. Crocodilians will defend not only themselves, but also their nest and young from anything they perceive as a threat.
Eight other species have been involved in fatal attacks on humans, but in far lower numbers than the Nile, saltwater and mugger crocodiles, and also with significantly lower fatality rates (a higher percentage of their attacks are non-fatal). These are the American alligator (making up an estimated 6% of fatal crocodilian attacks), West African crocodile (often considered quite harmless,Pooley, S. (2016). A Cultural Herpetology of Nile Crocodiles in Africa. Conservation & Society. 14 (4): 391–405. but has been involved in several attacks, also fatal),CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: West African crocodile. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia. American crocodile (only a few documented fatalities),The American Crocodile: Lifestyle Sideleau, B. (2015). Recent reports of fatal attacks on humans by crocodiles in Mexico. Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 34(2): 21–22. the Morelet's crocodile (typically considered a relatively non-threatening species, but there have been several fatal attacks),Sideleau, B. (2014). Details of a fatal attack on a human by a Moreletʼs crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) in Belize. Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 33(2): 29–30. Orinoco crocodile (fatalities recorded in the 1930s and earlier when the species was more common, but today it is very rare),CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Orinoco crocodile, 15 June 1922. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia.CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Orinoco crocodile, 1 June 1933. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia. Cuban crocodile (generally considered aggressive, but only one confirmed fatality),CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Cuban crocodile, 2 June 1995. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia. black caiman (fatal attacks confirmed in Brazil, but possibly underreported because of its remote range), false gharial (only a few confirmed fatalities, all involving very large false gharials)Rachmawan, D., and Brend, S. (2009). Human-Tomistoma interactions in central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 28(1): 9–11. and gharial (a single known fatality, without consumption).
In addition to these, the freshwater crocodile, Philippine crocodile, Siamese crocodile, broad-snouted caiman, spectacled caiman and yacare caiman have been involved in non-fatal attacks.CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Data. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia. Four of them, the Siamese crocodile, broad-snouted caiman, spectacled caiman and yacare caiman, each are suspected to have been the perpetrator of a single fatal attack on a child (smaller and therefore a more likely target than an adult), although for each of these cases the identity of the species is not completely certain.CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Siamese crocodile, 1 January 1928. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia.CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Broad-snouted caiman, 20 January 1886. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia.CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Spectacled caiman, 18 January 2015 . Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia.CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Yacare caiman, 3 October 2017. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia.
Background An accurate count of annual crocodile attacks on humans is difficult to obtain. Many of the areas in which humans and large crocodiles come into contact are remote, impoverished, or in areas of political unrest. Crocodile attacks are not always reported to local authorities, and some reports are difficult to verify. Nevertheless, some information does exist: for example, it was reported by CAMPFIRE in Zimbabwe that in the first ten months of the year in 2005, crocodiles were the number one cause of death in humans where wildlife was involved – with the number of deaths cited as 13.
Unlike other "man-eating" crocodiles, such as the saltwater crocodile, the Nile crocodile lives in proximity to human populations, so contact is more frequent. Although most attacks are not reported, the Nile crocodile is estimated to kill hundreds (possibly thousands) of people each year, which is more than all other crocodilian species combined.Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc (1983), One study posited the number of attacks by Nile crocodiles per year as 275 to 745, of which 63% are fatal, as opposed to an estimated 30 attacks per year by saltwater crocodiles, of which 50% are fatal. In both species, the mean size of crocodiles involved in nonfatal attacks was about as opposed to a reported range of or larger for crocodiles responsible for fatal attacks. Since a majority of fatal attacks are believed to be predatory in nature, the Nile crocodile can be considered the most prolific predator of humans among wild animals.
The most deaths in a single crocodile attack incident may have occurred during the Battle of Ramree Island, on February 19, 1945, in what is now Myanmar. Nine hundred soldiers of an Imperial Japanese Army unit, in an attempt to retreat from the Royal Navy and rejoin a larger battalion of the Japanese infantry, crossed through of mangrove swamps that contained saltwater crocodiles. Twenty Japanese soldiers were captured alive by the British, and almost five hundred are known to have escaped Ramree. Many of the remainder may have been eaten by the crocodiles, although since this incident took place during an active military conflict, it is impossible to know how many deaths can be directly attributed to the crocodiles instead of combat-related causes.Frank McLynn: The Burma Campaign: Disaster Into Triumph, 1942-45. Yale University Press 2011, , pp. 13-15, 459 ()
List of notable attacks
It is estimated that each year hundreds of people die from crocodile attacks in Africa – many of these attacks are never reported in the media. Without an accurate reporting system in place, crocodile attacks in Africa are difficult to track and very few are reproduced here. The majority of attacks recorded below have occurred in Southeast Asia and Australia.
1980s On March 17, 1987, 40-year-old Kerry Mcloughlin was killed by a crocodile while fishing with his son Michael in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. On March 29, 1987, Ginger Faye Meadows, an American model, was killed by a crocodile while swimming in the Prince Regent River near Broome, Western Australia before her birthday. She and her friend Jane Burchett were cornered by the crocodile, so she tried to get away from it, but it caught up to her and killed her.
1990s On May 22, 1992, an Iban girl Dayang anak Bayang was killed by Bujang Senang at Pelaban River, another tributary of the great Batang Lupar River near Lingga in Sri Aman Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The crocodile was shot to death by several police sharpshooters and Iban hunters. It was the biggest and oldest crocodile ever caught in the area.
2000s In January 2001, attacks by mugger crocodiles were reported on tribal population around the Neyyar reservoir in Kerala, India. Muggers are raised and periodically released into the reservoir from the Neyyar crocodile centre. This rare display of aggression was found to be the isolated behaviour of an abnormal minority among the Neyyar muggers, which are usually not known to attack humans. In October 2002, 23-year-old German student Isabel von Jordan was killed by a saltwater crocodile in Australia's Kakadu National Park while swimming in Sandy Billabong with her sister Valerie and a few other foreign backpackers.Recent crocodile deaths in Australia. Smh.com.au (April 11, 2009). Retrieved on March 19, 2011. The tour guide, Glenn Robless, pleaded guilty to a charge of making a dangerous omission with a suspended prison sentence.. The attack and its aftermath made international headlines, and were the subject of considerable notoriety within Australia.
Gustave is the nickname of a crocodile which has been credited with killing hundreds of people at the Rusizi River in Burundi. His size is estimated at and more than . Numerous capture attempts have been made, including using a massive bear trap in 2002; however, Gustave has evaded capture. Gustave is the basis of the film Primeval (originally titled "Gustave"), which follows a news team sent to Burundi to capture Gustave; while doing so they become a target of a warlord in the midst of an African civil war. In September 2005, Russell Harris, a 37-year-old British engineer, was killed by a large saltwater crocodile while snorkeling off Picnic Beach in Australia.Snorkel Brit Is Killed By Croc. mirror.co.uk (September 27, 2005). Retrieved on March 19, 2011. His body was recovered. On March 19, 2006, University of Washington medical professor Richard Root, age 68, who had moved to alleviate a shortage of physicians, was killed on a wildlife tour of the Limpopo River when a crocodile emerged from the river and pulled him underwater. In April 2007, a 9-year-old Chinese child was killed in a crocodile pool at the Silver Beach holiday resort in southwest Guangxi region.Croc kills kid at holiday park: News24: World: News. News24 (April 22, 2007). Retrieved on March 19, 2011. On February 8, 2009, 5-year-old Jeremy Doble was attacked by a crocodile in far north Queensland Daintree River, Australia. Police confirmed that human remains found in a saltwater crocodile caught nearby were those of the boy.Boy's body found in crocodile BBC News, February 18, 2009. On March 15, 2009, 11-year-old Briony Goodsell was killed by a crocodile when swimming with friends at Lambell's Lagoon near Humpty Doo in Northern Territory.Hunt for killer croc called off, ABC News, 17 March 2009
2010s In April 2010, a 25-year-old woman from New Jersey was killed by a saltwater crocodile while snorkeling in India's Andaman Islands. Havelock Island, where the attack took place, lies from the Lohabarrack Salt Water Crocodile Sanctuary. Her boyfriend caught the attack on film; the camera was recovered two days later along with her remains.Lauren Failla DEAD: Vanderbilt Alum Killed By Crocodile 4 Years After Sister Dies In Climbing Accident. Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved on March 19, 2011.