Tourist wanting open-mouthed photo threw bricks at captive crocodile

A captive crocodile in Australia is lucky to be alive after a reckless tourist threw bricks at him. Alice Springs Reptile Centre's resident saltwater crocodile, Terry, almost swallowed the brick before he was rescued by staff. The tourist wanted to see Terry open his mouth for a photo - so he jumped over the barricade and threw two bricks at the croc.

Alice Springs Reptile Centre owner Rex Neindorf came to the rescue when he saw a brick in the beast's jaws. "I was walking past on Saturday afternoon and something caught my eye. I went to check on Terry and I saw him with the brick," he said.



"He had his mouth above water so I knew he was about to swallow it. I bashed him on the nose with a pool pole. It was the only thing I could do to make him drop the brick. I had to hit him six times before he let go. I had to hit him so hard that the pole broke. If Terry had swallowed the brick, he would have died."

Terry chipped three or four teeth as a result of biting the bricks. Mr Neindorf said the New Zealand tourist was frightened. "He hadn't thought about the consequences ... People need to think about the consequences before they do silly things around animals," he said.