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Clip description
This clip shows freshwater crocodiles on a riverbank in Australia’s tropical north. A man carrying a rifle crawls along on his stomach to hunt the sleeping reptiles. On seeing him, the crocodiles head for the nearby lagoon but not before one of them is shot. Three men stretch a fishing net across the lagoon. They close the net and pull it back towards the bank, trapping crocodiles inside. Before removing them from the net, one of the hunters ties shut the crocodile jaws with strong cord.
The clip contains an instrumental soundtrack and voice-over narration by FW Thring.
Curator’s notes
The freshwater crocodiles are smaller and less dangerous than their saltwater counterparts, but the methods of capture – where barefoot men wade through the lagoon – are nonetheless adventurous. Noel Monkman established his reputation as a naturalist filmmaker based on his work for Australian Educational Films. In this clip, the camera gets close to the action, which builds dramatic tension as the crocodile hunters approach their prey.
