- A 660kg crocodile, measuring 4.8m, went viral after he bit his wrangler in KwaZulu-Natal.
- The wrangler, Sean le Clus, said he - and not the reptile - was to blame for the attack.
- Le Clus stitched himself up and returned to work.
A 660kg crocodile named Hannibal recently bit his handler at the Crocodile Creek farm in KwaZulu-Natal.
According to its webpage, Crocodile Creek, on the North Coast near Balito, is home to over 6 000 Nile crocodiles, alligators and snakes.
The incident happened on 11 September, and video footage of the attack has gone viral.
Wrangler Sean le Clus walked away mostly unscathed.
Video footage of the incident shows Le Clus in the enclosure with two crocodiles. He walks over and feeds the smaller of the two crocodiles while visitors to the farm look on.
He then climbs on Hannibal's back, and can be heard saying: "It’s got a 60cm bite area, and he has a 65cm head." The other crocodile snaps at him, and when Le Clus gets up, Hannibal bites him.
Le Clus sustained injuries to his hand and thigh.
He defended the animal by taking responsibility for what happened.
"People always want to blame the animal, but it wasn’t the crocodile's fault," he said.
According to Le Clus, he changed the routine of his show before he was attacked.
"I usually climb off [the crocodile] from the tail and walk on its side to the front but, this time I just got off from the side, that’s why it bit me," he explained.
The 78-year-old male crocodile is 4.8m long.
After being bitten, Le Clus stitched himself up without anaesthetic and continued working with the crocodiles.