As we previously covered, a heroic father sacrificed his own life to prevent his wife from suffering a similar fate. A crocodile then attacked and ate him. But why did the beast attack the man?
A crocodile handler has weighed in on the father's death. He said that the animal's behavior was "natural." The handler believes that the creature may have killed the man due too this tragic reason. David Hogbin died when the riverbank path at the Annan River near Cooktown collapsed. He ended up falling into the river and couldn't get out.
His wife tried to save him, but upon realizing he would pull her in with him, he let go. Almost immediately afterward, the animal attacked the father of three. Later, authorities tracked down and euthanized the croc. They found the remains of the father inside the animal.
"Dave's final, decisive act was to let go of Jane's arm when he realised she was slipping in, an act that likely saved her life," a fundraiser read. "In a world-shattering instant, Dave was taken by the crocodile. One small consolation is that none of Dave's children witnessed this event. Needless to say, Dave's family and friends are completely broken."
Expert Ways In On Crocodile Attack
Talking to The Cairns Post, crocodile handler Damien Cowan said crocs don't usually hang around that part of the river.
The expert suspects the creature was "hanging out there was from behavior brought-on by people." He said that crocodiles typically eat small animals near the edge of the water.
"Crocs don't have a big brain, but they are very good at one thing - and that's knowing its source of food," he said. "A crocodile will learn where it finds its prey - where the wallabies go and drink all the time."
For that reason, the bend of the river shouldn't make sense for a croc to lurk. There's less animals there.
"You're not getting prey consistently falling off a large bank, you're not having a pig or a wallaby taking a misstep and falling in there," he said. "So it's an unnatural area for that crocodile to prey or feed."
However, the expert said humans started dumping fish scraps into the river there. That's attracted crocodiles looking for an easy meal.
"So that's what he was doing with the discarded fish scraps - it was a pattern he was following. It's nothing new," Cowan said of the crocodile. Likewise, people started feeding crocs in the area as well. "A croc that thought it was getting fish frames got shot in the head. Yes, the croc attacked him, but he didn't hunt him."
