March 10, 2011
SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian fisherman was recovering in hospital Thursday after surviving a terrifying attack by a four-metre (13-feet) saltwater crocodile, police said.
Police said the man was fishing at a creek in northern Queensland on Wednesday when the croc lunged at him and tried to drag him in, but he managed to grab onto mangroves growing on the bank.
The 28-year-old, named in reports as mine worker Todd Bairstow, screamed for help and his friend at a nearby pub rushed to the rescue, whacking the croc with a tree branch until it let go, locals said.
"The man was fishing with a lure and he was casting a lure out into the water when the croc came up from under the water and snapped at his hand," local resort manager Greg Shean told The Cairns Post.
"The croc managed to snap off his finger but the man was lucky enough to be able to pull his hand away."
The man then slipped and the crocodile grabbed his legs, trying to pull them into the water, Shean explained.
"He grabbed hold of a branch and yelled for help and one of his mates, who was on the pub veranda, heard him and ran down.
"His mate hit the croc over the nose with a big branch causing the croc to let go of the man."
Bairstow's grandmother Gloria said her grandson, who is recovering in a hospital in the northeastern city of Cairns, had both legs broken and other injuries from the attack, the public broadcaster ABC reported.
The creek where the incident took place is "a known croc habitat" and signs are being erected to warn of the dangers, according to Mike Devery, of Queensland's department of environment and resource management.
Rangers were attempting to find the crocodile on Thursday and remove it from the wild.
An average of two people are killed each year in Australia by saltwater crocodiles, known locally as "salties", which can grow up to seven metres (23 feet) long and weigh more than a tonne (2,200 pounds).
