Crocodile hunter dubbed the ‘Outback Wrangler’ flies to Indonesia to try and catch legendary 13-foot beast with a motorbike tyre stuck around its neck
- Matt Wright has been chasing animals through Australia’s outback for 20 years
- He was tasked to Indonesia to catch a crocodile with a tyre stuck around its neck
- The team have been unable to catch the crocodile after four days on the water
- The croc is not interested in the traps because of the big food source in the river
- Mr Wright started a GoFundMe to keep the local authorities chasing the croc
- ‘We’re going to keep on trying to catch this croc over the next twelve months’
A crocodile hunter has flown to Indonesia to help locals catch a 13-foot beast with a tyre stuck around its neck.
Matt Wright, dubbed Australia’s ‘Outback Wrangler’, wrestles with deadly crocodiles deep in the Northern Territory.
He was sent to the Palu River in northern Indonesia last week with his right-hand-man Chris Wilson to try and capture a four-metre long crocodile with a tyre stuck around its neck.
Mr Wright and his team are working with the Central Sulawesi Natural Resources Agency (BKSDA Jakarta) and the Indonesian government to catch the crocodile, but despite several close calls, they have been unable to rein him in.
Australia’s Outback Wrangler Matt Wright is in Palu trying to catch a crocodile with a tyre stuck around its neck (pictured)
Mr Wright (pictured with his wife Kaia) was tasked to the area after reports the tyre was tightening around the crocodile’s neck and restricting its breathing
After four unsuccessful nights on the water, the Indonesian team are being stretched to their limits, and Mr Wright has started a GoFundMe page to keep the team active and catch the crocodile.
‘I did get a couple really good shots last night, but wasn’t on my game and missed,’ Mr Wright posted in an Instagram update.
‘It’s all about getting the right opportunity to get a good run at catching him and they’re far and few between.
‘I’m only here for another couple of days now, so if we catch him, we catch him, if we don’t, it’s going to be an ongoing process.
‘We’re going to keep on trying to catch this croc over the next twelve months.’
Mr Wright has been watching the saltwater crocodile for the past 18 months, and made the trip after reports the tyre was restricting the crocodile from breathing.
Mr Wright says that the animal has been living with the tyre around its neck for nearly five years
‘I believe the tyre has been around the croc’s neck for a few years now with the croc being able to survive and live unaffected,’ Mr Wright posted on Instagram.
‘However, our contacts in Indonesia have shared recent pictures of the crocodile which show the tyre looking tighter than ever before with the poor fella gasping for air and officials now fearing the tyre is slowly killing the beast.’
The team have set up multiple traps in the river, but the bounty of food moving down the river has made getting the crocodile to move to where they want him a difficult job.
‘I think he’s just so used to people and there’s a huge food source coming down this river that he’s just not hungry,’ Mr Wright told Today.
‘It’s making efforts a bit more difficult to lure him into a trap or get him to come to where we want him to catch him.’
Mr Wright says that all the funds raised on his GoFundMe page will go towards resources, education and expenses for BKSDA and the local wildlife authority