Milking Venom from the BIGGEST King Brown Snake In Captivity | Double Episode

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]I couldn't come to the Northern Territory without a visit to a croc farm.

[00:00:05]Just about to head out on the river with Nick to feed the crocs.

[00:00:08]Chickens on the menu.

[00:00:10]Oh, yeah.

[00:00:11]Depends how good you are throwing them.

[00:00:13]Chicken chucking.

[00:00:15]This farm was set up in 1981 to serve the demand for commercially viable, sustainable croc products, including meat, skins, and of course, tourism.

[00:00:25]It's a series of billabongs and croc pens planted with native trees, but it's more than just a farm. They're in nature reserves that would be jealous of the fauna this place attracts.

[00:00:37]The farm is now home to over 50,000 crocs. They've got hatchlings a few centimeters long to some serious big fellas like this one.

[00:00:46]You've already seen me feeding over at the reptile park, but take a look at Nick.

[00:00:52]This man is a gun.

[00:01:00]I mean, it's evident that Nick knows his crocs. He's worked with them a long time, and he's quite comfortable with them, you know, within that strike zone, that that close proximity, and it takes a lot of time to get to that point.

[00:01:12]Moving on to the next billabong, we've come across a bit of a roadblock.

[00:01:18]Yeah.

[00:01:21]These guys are known to be wild. You know, buffalo attack people, cars.

[00:01:25]You know, they're a competition for a croc.

[00:01:29]And Nick's going to walk out and pat him on the head.

[00:01:40]That's pretty awesome.

[00:01:41]Water buffalo are notoriously moody, and just look at those horns. You wouldn't get me out there trying that.

[00:01:51]He's in a good mood today.

[00:01:56]Just look at this place. Crocs everywhere, but it doesn't seem to worry our Nick.

[00:02:15]Time for some, as Nick puts it, chicken chucking.

[00:02:25]The crocs aren't all that hungry this time of year, but come summer, Nick says they'll easily devour 5 tons of chicken a week.

[00:02:34]I find it staggering that Nick still has all his digits.

[00:02:39]There is one more croc Nick was keen to show me. His name?

[00:02:44]We call him Psycho.

[00:02:50]>> [music] >> This is Psycho, and we'll >> [music] >> So, ordinarily, Psycho would have be on his third chicken by now. Yeah, yeah. It's not to see winter. Yeah.

[00:03:11]Of course, as a conservationist and croc lover myself, I'm torn by the whole farming thing.

[00:03:17]These were problem crocs that would have had a bullet to the head.

[00:03:21]It's that, or they produce offspring that makes handbags.

[00:03:26]So, that's it, my day at a croc farm.

[00:03:29]I think I'm happy in the knowledge these crocs at least are enjoying a life some of them would never have had if they were left in the wild.

[00:03:44]A little while ago, I showed you the deadly cane toad. It's wreaking havoc amongst our indigenous predators all [music] across northern Australia. Cane toads are deadly poisonous, especially to unknowing predators like the king brown. Hey, king brown. Oh. Can you grab this? Yeah, yeah, mate.

[00:04:03]Oh, look at that.

[00:04:05]Look at the size of it. This is a good find. I mean, look at this beauty.

[00:04:10]We're in an area riddled with toads, [music] cane toads.

[00:04:14]King browns have suffered a lot with toads, and to find a breeding snake like this, a mature adult snake, just a special find. [music] These guys, big snakes, and they eat almost anything, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds.

[00:04:27]And you see the coloration.

[00:04:29]Not so much on the belly, but on the back, a light tan and brown. I mean, look at this environment where we found it. It's exactly the same [music] color, so to cruise through that, almost undetectable, because a small king brown, good prey for a black kite or a bird of prey.

[00:04:45]And these guys are Australia's largest venomous snake. And with a head like that, big venom glands, they put so much venom into a bite. You do not want to get bitten by one of these guys.

[00:04:56]Time for this beauty to go off on his merry way, and hopefully, he won't eat a cane toad for dinner. That's a girl.

[00:05:02]Settle down.

[00:05:03]What a snake.

[00:05:04]>> [music] >> Look at that.

[00:05:10]That's definitely not going to happen to Hercules here. He's our very own king brown snake at the park, and let me tell you, he's a whopper.

[00:05:18]In fact, we reckon Hercules is the biggest king brown in captivity. And like all of our venomous snakes here, he's a part of our antivenom production program.

[00:05:29]Come on, buddy.

[00:05:32]The name king brown is a misnomer.

[00:05:34]>> [music] >> Hercules' kind are actually part of the black snake family, and they can be found right throughout the interior of Australia. Okay.

[00:05:41]That's it.

[00:05:43]Now, I'll get him on.

[00:05:44]Okay, Mickey wants Oh, sorry, mate.

[00:05:47]Right, go. On, mate.

[00:05:49]Okay.

[00:05:51]That's it.

[00:05:52]A little bit more.

[00:05:53]Good.

[00:05:54]Okay, up.

[00:05:56]Oh.

[00:05:58]Look at the size of these venom glands.

[00:06:01]Inside there is more venom than any other Australian snake.

[00:06:05]He generally gets milked every 2 weeks, like every snake here.

[00:06:09]Let's see how you go, Herc.

[00:06:14]Woah, look at that.

[00:06:17]>> [music] >> Now, what king browns lack in toxicity, they make up for in their amount of venom.

[00:06:23]Where you'd get a couple of drops, 10 to 15 mils for a tiger snake or a taipan, that's 150 mils of king brown snake venom.

[00:06:33]This lot, with the rest, will be sent to the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in Melbourne to be made into antivenom.

[00:06:56]>> [music] >> Take a look at these two.

[00:07:05]>> [music] >> They might not be the Aussie icon in the same way as the kangaroo or koala, but to me, they're just as important.

[00:07:14]Dingoes play a critical role in the Australian environment, especially in today's age. Pigs and cats and feral pests are responsible for a whole raft of Australian extinctions.

[00:07:24]And the story goes, wherever you have a dingo, you don't have a fox or the cat.

[00:07:29]Dan and Daisy here are 10 weeks old.

[00:07:32]They were bred in captivity, and will act as ambassadors for their species.

[00:07:36]Come on. Now, they get a bad rap in the environment, and often actually shot, hunted, trapped, and poisoned, but times are changing, and people's opinions are changing. We're starting to realize that we need dingoes. They represent one of the only natural ways to control feral pests in Australian environments.

[00:07:53]Scientific studies suggest dingoes were brought to Australia by Aborigines some 5,000 years ago.

[00:07:59]Now, throughout their time in Australia, they were close companions of the Aborigines. They were used for warmth at night and hunting.

[00:08:06]That would be a surprise to many, as dingoes are nearly always portrayed as untrainable.

[00:08:11]Get one away from the litter before 10 weeks, though, and it'll prove to be a loyal, if a little aloof, pet.

[00:08:18]While dingoes might look like domesticated dogs, they're very different. And they've got some [music] adaptations that make them superior for hunting. Eyes on the front of the head, ears that are always erect, listening for sound, and feet that can rotate at the ankles.

[00:08:34]But it's the periodic contact with humans that always makes the headlines.

[00:08:38]Dingoes are generally shy, quiet, timid, and they avoid human contact at all times.

[00:08:44]The dangerous recipe is dingoes in high tourist areas. People decide to feed them, dingoes become reliant upon that as a food source, and then if it dries up, they're prone to attack people.

[00:08:57]There's a simple remedy. Don't leave food out.

[00:09:00]Dingoes only breed once a year. They breed in winter, and that means their pups emerge in spring when there's an abundance of clumsy animals to hunt.

[00:09:08]Nature's timed that magnificently.

[00:09:11]Dingoes hunt in a pack, and they can take down large prey. A full-grown male, 70 kilo red kangaroo, that has a stronger kick than any man.

[00:09:20]Walk along, Blue. But it's for attacks on livestock the dingoes are known. And because of that, the relationship between farmers and dingoes has always been strained.

[00:09:30]All species in Australia are generally deemed native if they were here pre-Euro settlement, except the dingo.

[00:09:38]Let's not forget, though, the dingo was here long before the farms. Dingoes have had a colorful [music] history in Australia since European settlement. But times are changing, and hopefully, [music] we have dingoes in our environments for a long time to come.

[00:09:52]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Put my hands down and this massive alligator just came up and whack.

[00:10:16]I was actually bitten on hand by a big Burmese [music] python while training a volunteer. Dingo bite there. Got bitten by a Tasmanian devil.

[00:10:24]Bites and scratches are all part of a keeper's job here at the Australian Reptile Park.

[00:10:31]And of course, I've got heaps of scars as well.

[00:10:33]>> [music] >> But the problem is the medications we receive are generic, suitable for dogs and cats, not really for what we need.

[00:10:39]So today, we're here to fix that.

[00:10:44]Our doctor tells me they need to tailor specific treatments to different animal bites, depending on the bacteria in the animal's mouth. Get get out of the way, mate.

[00:10:54]So me and Obi have got cracking on swabbing the mouths of some real feisty characters.

[00:10:58]It's good. There's a good bit of slobber.

[00:11:02]All right. Well, in here is a scrub python. This is the world's third largest snake, Australia's largest python and snake.

[00:11:10]Its bite's not poisonous, but it does have bacteria in its mouth and its teeth are like razors. So when it bites into you, they penetrate the skin and bacteria can actually be pushed in.

[00:11:23]Here we go. Slobbering. Yeah.

[00:11:25]Oh, yeah. I'm locked, mate. Yeah.

[00:11:28]>> [laughter] >> Very strong, you know. These guys, you think it's just raw muscle.

[00:11:34]Yep.

[00:11:34]That's good.

[00:11:36]All right.

[00:11:37]Now, Obi's going to try and swab the top. You're all right, mate. You're all right.

[00:11:41]Go backwards on it.

[00:11:43]Look at them teeth.

[00:11:46]All right. All right. Let's get that coil.

[00:11:48]Nice and quick. Geez, that's tight.

[00:11:51]Incredibly tight.

[00:11:55]Ah.

[00:11:56]How's that one? Wow. That's so tight.

[00:11:59]Pretty scary, you know. For a moment there, I know Obi's here, but you can feel that pressure and you think maybe [music] this isn't coming off.

[00:12:06]Which takes us to the park's hungriest and most dangerous residents.

[00:12:16]All right. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.

[00:12:18]Got him. They're just powerful, these guys. So we'll use the tree.

[00:12:21]That's what we want. We want that bacteria. Now, these guys can live in nasty swamps and have dirty bacteria in [music] their mouth, but they're a little different because it's the bite.

[00:12:29]You imagine the crush from these guys, a ton in those jaws of crushing pressure.

[00:12:34]Just incredible. Now, I'm going to try and come around there and and get some a swab from in there.

[00:12:41]Now, I can see a bit of water off there, but that's okay cuz that'll hold [music] the bacteria.

[00:12:47]Ooh.

[00:12:48]Look at that. So quick, you know. One mistake.

[00:12:51]Just watch out. He's going to have a kick.

[00:12:53]All right. That looks pretty good. This is the last guy Thanks, mate.

[00:13:00]We're not going to push our luck any longer with a gator that size. We'll let him go so I can get these swabs to some blokes who can run a few tests.

[00:13:08]I'm here at Gosford Hospital to meet my mate Steve Cameron, the emergency specialist.

[00:13:13]Good day, mate. Good day, Tim. How you going? Yeah, good. Thank you.

[00:13:16]Here they are. There's some good swabs in here. That's a big scrub python. That snake's about 5 m. Perfect.

[00:13:21]>> a bit of a for a minute there and yeah.

[00:13:24]And a 4-m long alligator. Who took that one? Uh well, a few of us cuz we had to get the rope on him and just get him up and it was a a bit of an effort, but What did you do to him, mate? What Yeah.

[00:13:35]What happens now? I'll send these to the laboratory. Yeah. It'll take about a week to get the results back.

[00:13:39]>> Yeah. What we're going to do is put them on a plate of jelly, Yeah. put them in the oven, and if there's any nasty bugs, we'll grow them over the next week. And as far as I know, no one's ever done this before, so Okay. you're at the cutting edge. Well, that's good. Thanks, mate. See you soon.

[00:13:53]>> you next time. Bye. Bye.

[00:13:55]And of course, none of us like to get bitten or scratched. And hopefully soon, we can have some tailor-made treatments.

[00:14:01]Isn't that right, Chuggy?

[00:14:02]>> [laughter] >> There's one right there.

[00:14:06]Hey.

[00:14:09]>> [music] [music] >> Earlier in the series, I brought you the story of the construction and launch of Devil Ark.

[00:14:22]It's a sanctuary for Tasmanian devils, where we're building an insurance program. Its success will be proven once [music] the indigenous devils in Tasmania succumb to the cancerous tumors that have spread right across the population.

[00:14:34]We want our guys to one day be released with all the behaviors of a devil [music] born in the wild.

[00:14:45]We have 500 hectares here in the Barrington Tops in New South Wales. And over time, we'll increase the enclosures to provide secure [music] environments for each group of devils to develop.

[00:14:58]These are our devil traps and the purpose of them is for us to be able to monitor the devils within the yard. When we need to do things like treat the devils for worms or any external parasites like they if there were ticks or anything like that, we trap them. We do this quarterly.

[00:15:13]So these devils here are in the wild, they would have left mom about 2 months ago. So that's the same thing we mirrored in captivity. Now, at this point, we crèche them together because for their social skills, like puppies and little kids, they develop and they learn how to be males, learn how to be males, females learn how to be females.

[00:15:28]So a yard like this is a developmental stage for these young devils and then they'll go into their breeding facilities.

[00:15:41]Winter hits hard here, but the work goes on providing care for the devils come [music] rain, wind, hail, or snow.

[00:15:49]It's been just 4 months since the devils were introduced into Devil Ark.

[00:15:54]The devil social groups [music] are well established in the big free-range pens.

[00:15:58]Young devils sleep by themselves and are generally solitary, but at feed time, they come together and socialize. We're going to see real-life arguments and squabbles, but this is all developing for when they're adults.

[00:16:12]They learn and develop so much with the interactions that happen at a social [music] feed. The way they eat is similar to crocodiles in that they come together. They don't have a knife and a fork. They have to pull and tear bits and pieces of meat off, lots of arguing and squabbling along the way.

[00:16:29]This is what it looks like when 10 devils have had a dinner party. They have chewed straight through leg bones, hip bones, all the ribs along here. Their jaw just is incredibly strong. I didn't think that they would get through this much kangaroo. It's it's a lot of meat that's been consumed there.

[00:16:53]A few months later and I'm back to see the fruits of our labor and the outcome of breeding. Wow.

[00:16:59]It's the middle of winter. It is freezing. It's minus two. It's very early morning. There's ice everywhere and overnight, we've trapped a yard of devils. We'll parasitic treat the males, but for the females, more importantly, this is our first pouch check.

[00:17:15]We're expecting to find joeys between the age of 30 and 100 days. That's the difference between something that looks like a pink jelly bean to the size of a miniature devil.

[00:17:25]The pouch is good and developed. You can see that.

[00:17:28]Yeah, that's all right.

[00:17:31]Get in there. There's There's three three joeys. Yeah, good. Good work, boys. Yeah, I see it. Yeah, little head there.

[00:17:39]This is the best result we could [music] ever have imagined. That's the first female in the first yard we checked.

[00:17:47]Our husbandry techniques [music] and procedures work and we all feel great.

[00:17:50]That joey was at a size of development that's perfect. It means we're achieving our aims and the results [music] are amazing.

[00:18:01]Later in the series, I'll be back at Devil Ark to see how these little devils are getting along.

[00:18:14]>> [music] >> Okay. Well, it's all part of the job and today, I've got some routine maintenance here at the Australian Reptile Park.

[00:18:24]I got to get in there and fix that pool.

[00:18:26]It's got a leak.

[00:18:27]Problem is, it's not my pool.

[00:18:31]It's his, our old mate Elvis.

[00:18:36]Come on. One more.

[00:18:37]Listen to that.

[00:18:38]Bone crushes.

[00:18:40]You can just hear that bone crush. Come on, mate. Stop it off. In a moment of madness, I volunteered to go and do some hasty repairs and get out quick smart.

[00:18:49]So the plan is you're going to hold rope around me. How far do you think till it's dangerous? Just for the starter, shall I get in? Yeah, I reckon. Getting close.

[00:18:57]What do you think's dangerous bit? Is he going to swim back around quick or come over? If he pushes past us, we've got to try and get him under control as quick as we can and get you out of the water pretty quickly. Yeah. And look, he's coming up now.

[00:19:09]All right. Let's do it.

[00:19:13]It's pretty serious in here, too.

[00:19:15]This guy potentially is a true man-eater.

[00:19:18]About 5 m long, well over half a ton in weight, and he's got a bit of a story. He's originally from Darwin Harbor and he used to rip motors off fishing boats.

[00:19:27]Now, he was lucky because a croc like this often gets shot, but fortunately, this guy was taken to a croc farm and he ate two of his girlfriends.

[00:19:35]Now, reason for that is because he's a territorial male.

[00:19:39]These guys fear nothing. The first thing we've got to do is get the croc around the other side.

[00:19:45]He's lying right on the leak.

[00:19:47]A leaky pool, a 5-m long man-eating croc, and me. I must be crazy.

[00:19:57]A crowd has gathered to watch the team move Elvis up the other end of the pool.

[00:20:02]He knows something's up and he doesn't want to move.

[00:20:05]Come on, Elvis.

[00:20:09]Come on, mate.

[00:20:11]Jules, we'll move back here.

[00:20:14]Oh, he's speeding up.

[00:20:16]And now I've got a chance to fix this leak.

[00:20:18]We're all right.

[00:20:25]All right, are we all good, Liz?

[00:20:27]We're great [music] from this side.

[00:20:34]That giant croc is so fast underwater that I've got no chance of getting away if he comes for me. Just as well Obie and Lizzie are watching my back.

[00:20:43]Guys, he's on the move a bit.

[00:20:46]Okay, mate, he's on the move a bit.

[00:20:52]Done. And just in the nick of time.

[00:20:56]Cheers, Obie. All done, all right.

[00:20:58]Yeah, it looks good. There was just a bit of a crack along that seal.

[00:21:02]Now, our croc's been relatively well-behaved. As he's missed out on snacking on me, it's time to reward him with some other food. Come on.

[00:21:10]He's just massive, isn't he?

[00:21:12]Come on.

[00:21:17]Now, they're much slower to come forward. The danger zone is to the side.

[00:21:20]So, I'm going to keep that food in front of his nose.

[00:21:24]Look at that. Come on.

[00:21:27]Up you come.

[00:21:28]Good fella.

[00:21:30]It's a job well [music] done and probably time to leave Elvis alone.

[00:21:34]That's more than enough excitement for one day for both him and me.

[00:21:39]Today's a pretty serious operation.

[00:21:41]>> [music] >> We're talking about a true relative of the dinosaurs and one that's known for its sheer aggression. It's a two-man operation and that's why Obie's here to help. And this isn't a beam, it's a shield.

[00:21:52]Introductions are scary, to say the least. If we have to, we're going to have to put our bodies on the line, but hopefully it doesn't [music] come to that.

[00:22:01]Now, I guess you're wondering what it possibly could be. [music] Let me introduce you to the cassowary.

[00:22:08]Numbers in the wild have dropped to less than a thousand. It's another Australian animal in sad decline, [music] but there's a captive breeding program and we're a successful part of it.

[00:22:19]Cassowary breeding season [music] is a a real time of worry for us, particularly in a zoo because it's a confined quarters. [music] When we introduce two cassowaries, male or female could go nuts. They rear up, jump, >> [music] >> and kick. An attack on one another can be fatal, no doubt about it. But it's breeding season and we need to take this window of opportunity. If they [music] get cranky and they start fighting, we need to get in there, use our shields, separate the birds, put our bodies [music] on the line, do whatever it takes to get the birds in separate quarters because if it goes bad, it can go real bad.

[00:22:53]You all right, mate?

[00:22:58]>> [music] >> He's really interested in this female, but it's hard for us. We've got to get him over to that gate to get him in.

[00:23:19]And he's not sure about us. You can see now he's bottom. The the feathers on it are all fluffed and that's him saying, "Look how big I am." You know, at this time of year, if there's any time of year that a cassowary is going to attack, it's now.

[00:23:31]It's a delicate operation and there's no rushing a cassowary. [music] He's going to do what he wants.

[00:23:40]Mm, tricky boy.

[00:23:42]That's it.

[00:23:44]Okay, I'll get that gate, Obz. Just hold him for a sec.

[00:23:48]Hold him for a sec. You got him, mate?

[00:23:50]Gate's open.

[00:23:53]It's good. Yep, come on.

[00:23:55]That's a boy.

[00:23:57]And he's in. Now the drama really begins.

[00:24:00]Cassowaries stand high.

[00:24:02]Just sizing each other up, seeing who's bigger, who's stronger. And this female, she'll want a strong male. She wants someone [music] that's going to give her a run. Come on, mate. Here we go.

[00:24:13]The preening's good.

[00:24:15]Especially from our girl over there. You know, all girls start playing with their hair a little when there's a bloke around.

[00:24:20]They're talking to each other subtly and hopefully that leads into a a nice introductory hello.

[00:24:29]Hey, Jukes. Hey, hey, fight, fight, fight. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Stop. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

[00:24:38]Hey.

[00:24:40]Stop it. Stop, stop, stop.

[00:24:43]So, they've just had a a fight instigated by the male. He's the smaller bird, but always more aggressive.

[00:24:49]>> [music] >> You know, we don't want to see that because hollow bones, they're reasonably fragile up around that torso, but it's settled now. That's about as fierce as we'd ever want to see.

[00:24:58]He got two or three kicks in to the side.

[00:25:02]That doesn't [music] mean that they won't mate. That's just that's a little scrap, you know, a bit of a feeler as to who's strong and what are we all about.

[00:25:11]Things could settle now and progress well.

[00:25:15]Look, she's booming. You know, scientists reckon that cassowaries boom could be the key to understanding how dinosaurs communicated.

[00:25:23]From here it sounds like a truck going by in the distance. You can feel your insides vibrate.

[00:25:30]>> [music] >> We've been in here for half an hour. I think if anything romantic was going to happen, it would have by now.

[00:25:39]We're going to try [music] and bring the female through. This was the male's yard, but it doesn't matter. We just need them apart.

[00:25:46]I spoke too soon. Looks like round two is kicking off.

[00:25:49]Hey, hey, hey, hey.

[00:25:51]Hey.

[00:25:54]Stop, Jukes. Hey. Stop it. Hey.

[00:25:57]Hey, got it.

[00:25:58]Yep, out of the way. The male's stringing together some serious blows, but look at that. It's not all one way.

[00:26:11]Come on, through.

[00:26:15]Oh, look at that. Obz nearly took a low blow.

[00:26:21]Just look at this fella. He's got more front than Buckingham Palace. But finally, we've got the measure on him.

[00:26:35]Introductions for dangerous animals are are always testing for the animal and keepers. And as far as they go, that was hard. That did not go smooth. Very violent. We've had to split the animals, male back in his yard, female in her yard. All we can do now [music] is sit, wait, try again in a week.

[00:26:57]>> [music] >> Obz, we've got a bird of prey in a factory down at Main's Road. Can you grab nets and gear ASAP? I'll meet you in the car park.

[00:27:06]Yeah, no problem. I'll grab the nets.

[00:27:09]Let's go.

[00:27:10]A little while back I brought the story of Malcolm the falcon who had a detached retina [music] and is now staying with us at the park.

[00:27:17]Well, it seems raptors are out looking for trouble. As we've had a call from a local factory saying they [music] have one in the yard who doesn't seem to want to leave.

[00:27:25]G'day. How you going?

[00:27:27]What's up to you when I rang you, but she's over in the factory She's going in the factory. All right, we might go in and have a bit of a look. Where did you see her last? Right right there.

[00:27:35]Oh, there she is.

[00:27:36]Peregrine.

[00:27:38]It's a young bird.

[00:27:40]Guess that it's probably just left the nest and why it's in here and why it's not flying, don't know.

[00:27:45]I knew it was a falcon, but I didn't realize it'd be a peregrine now.

[00:27:50]That was that was a bit of a surprise, that.

[00:27:52]After all the years I've been here, I've never seen one of these birds around here.

[00:27:57]Thought he wouldn't last the night if he'd got away, so we're really happy to see you guys come down and pick him up.

[00:28:05]That left wing's dropped.

[00:28:08]It's flying, but you can see there that that left wing's hanging out.

[00:28:11]Now, that could mean that he's actually copped a hit and therefore the wing drops down because it's sore. We need to have a look at him.

[00:28:16]Come on.

[00:28:19]No problem with his legs.

[00:28:21]>> [laughter] >> He's quick, he's agile. As soon as we get near him, he darts down and he's under the cupboards [music] and then he's up and he's jumping across and a bit tricky to catch. Don't go up there, mate.

[00:28:32]All right, I'm going to have a crack here.

[00:28:34]Let's get him. All right.

[00:28:38]>> [music] >> I think he just he just can't fly. I think he just needs a bit of space to get its flight up.

[00:28:48]Yeah, we're right, mate. Cheers.

[00:28:50]Yeah, I realized he wasn't going far.

[00:28:51]That's why he's scratching himself and trying to flap his wings. To be sitting around, especially in a yard like ours, is unusual.

[00:28:59]I just hope he hasn't been hit like, you know, clipped by a car or anything.

[00:29:04]He's looking up at you.

[00:29:06]We finally managed to capture the exhausted falcon, but all that flapping around in the factory has got me concerned.

[00:29:13]Look at that.

[00:29:15]What are you doing in here, mate?

[00:29:18]What are you doing in here?

[00:29:20]Oh, what's that?

[00:29:22]What's that there?

[00:29:24]Is that injured?

[00:29:26]I'm not sure what that is. It's strange at the moment, he's really [music] quiet, but he's just scared. He's petrified. He's lost. He's in a factory.

[00:29:33][music] I would guess that he's not long left mom and dad and fled from the nest and it's quite common for a lot of birds that he's just struggling. [music] He can't find the food he needs, he's weak, and now he can't fly where he needs to and he's stuck down low.

[00:29:46]We'll take him back to the park for further examination.

[00:29:52]But first, I'll introduce the intruder to the factory owners.

[00:30:02]Yeah, he is. He is. You can see You can see that breastbone there.

[00:30:05]>> [laughter] >> Have you Have you seen mom and dad at all? No. No? [screaming] No.

[00:30:11]As a few [laughter] years go by every evening, but I've never seen it seen it.

[00:30:14]No. I've been here for 50 years, I've never seen one. No.

[00:30:17]Can you see him locked on there?

[00:30:21]Once that vision locks onto something, he's on it. He doesn't move. The body pivots, and the next day still.

[00:30:26]All right. Well, he's he's lucky anyway.

[00:30:27]We'll give him a bit of food and get him back up, [music] and and then we'll let him go. No worries. Thanks for the call.

[00:30:33]See you.

[00:30:34]Um [music] yeah, we just felt really sad that he looked really helpless. Yeah, at least he's got a good ending.

[00:30:42]Come on, mate. We'll get you home.

[00:30:44]See you at work.

[00:30:53]>> [music] >> Page one.

[00:31:04]Page two.

[00:31:06]Page three.

[00:31:07]Seems that whenever you open a paper here in the top end, there's a croc story. And I think it's fair to say there's a real fascination with crocs right throughout the top end.

[00:31:17]A few years back, the territory government introduced a Crocwise program [music] to help educate locals and tourists about how to stay safe in croc country, which around here is basically any place there's water.

[00:31:30]But after two deaths in 2009, [music] the government also decided to declare a 50-km no-tolerance zone around Darwin.

[00:31:37][music] I'm along for the ride with the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service in [music] Darwin Harbour to see what they're doing to reduce the risk.

[00:31:47]Tommy Nichols is the man in charge of enforcing the exclusion zone. He heads the team responding to any croc sighting and traps them throughout this huge waterway.

[00:31:57]Day in, day out, the boys are checking and rebating traps to ensure no rogue crocs have made it into the exclusion zone. There's a lot of water to cover up here.

[00:32:09]So, best case for us is that we have a crocodile in the trap. There's six traps that we're checking today. Now, it's not the crocodile's breeding season, so the numbers are a little less than they would be then, but hopefully, we get a croc.

[00:32:23]All right, this is the first trap coming up. As you can see, the door's still up, so there's nothing in this trap. So, what we do is rebate it.

[00:32:31]These are very simple. The bait's tied up at the other end. There's a gate at either end.

[00:32:36]This is the door which is held up.

[00:32:37]That's to hold up by a pin. The croc comes in, bites the bait, release that pin, and the door is shut.

[00:32:44]How many crocs do you get a year?

[00:32:46]Uh 220 plus a 220, yeah. If Now, if we didn't have this trapping um setup going, we would have extremely high number of crocs in here. Okay. So, therefore, the chances of a fatality would also be increased by by 220 crocs on average. That's for sure. And then plus, you've got other crocs which move in. So, therefore, the traps are certainly working, but what we're doing is creating a vacuum.

[00:33:06]Yeah. We take out the crocs, another one will may come in next week or next month, but they certainly will come in.

[00:33:11]But it's a case at the moment which This is certainly in the vicinity.

[00:33:17]>> [music] [music] [music] >> That's the city of Darwin right there.

[00:33:44]Give you an idea of just how close we are.

[00:33:48]Pulling up at trap number two is just as disappointing. The doors are up, which means no one was at home.

[00:33:54]When you bring them up on the boat, have you had any that have got, you know, snout robes off? Have you had any close calls? Are they Are they dangerous as such? Uh what's The only danger is the fact that uh if we don't tie the legs up, they swing around too much, and you could get slapped by the tail or by the head itself. But then, Tommy goes and totally throws me. That's from a croc.

[00:34:11]>> Yeah, about 5 years ago. What happened?

[00:34:13]I was in the process of tying it up, and he just done something a bit different, and he bit hold of my hand here.

[00:34:19]But thank goodness he let go here, and he just grabbed hold of it, and he ripped it off from me. What size croc?

[00:34:24]It was only just 3 m. It's just touch under 3 m.

[00:34:27]Jeez.

[00:34:28]It just goes to show, no matter how much experience you have, one momentary lapse of concentration with [music] crocs, and it can be curtains.

[00:34:37]Apart from crocs and Tasmanian devils, my other great love is birds. So, I'm always on the lookout.

[00:34:44]Always time for bird watching. You can bird watch anywhere. Anyone can do it.

[00:34:49]Traps three, [music] four, and five are just as bare. It's not turning out to be our day.

[00:34:55]And then all of a sudden, trap six, the final one, and we've got a bit of excitement. Could be a croc. The gate's down, so Tommy said it could happen by a boat going too fast, but this is the most promising we've seen.

[00:35:06]I can see bait.

[00:35:09]Find out.

[00:35:15]Was that a croc? No. We know they're in here. We saw one just a couple of k's back, a little bloke.

[00:35:20]But uh it's the way with animals, you can't win them all.

[00:35:23]So, after a round trip of 60 km, it's back to base.

[00:35:27]All in all, a pretty disappointing day.

[00:35:29]But then, just as we're about to go our separate ways, Tommy's got a phone call that there's a croc in the trap, so the day's not over. Yeah, Roger. Okay. How big you reckon?

[00:35:42]>> [music] >> It wasn't long before we were at the site.

[00:35:49]Well, there'd been a salty sighted here, and they've set the trap, [music] but they've come up with a freshwater croc, a Johnson's river crocodile. It's 2 m, poses little danger to humans, but they'll relocate him anyway.

[00:36:23]The freshy's a different to salties, and you can see one part here how thin this snout is.

[00:36:27]Saltwater croc of this size would have a snout three times the width.

[00:36:37]I'll just tie his head up.

[00:36:42]Good size freshy.

[00:36:45]So, there you go. The croc will be relocated to a safer area. It's all in a day's work for the Northern Territory rangers.

[00:36:58]Come on, mate. Are you going to play nice?

[00:37:01]Back at the park, and we have a reluctant peregrine on our hands.

[00:37:04]>> [music] >> Turn around, buddy.

[00:37:08]It's a standoff.

[00:37:11]Can you um do me a favor? Just let him see you through the back. Just put my finger in there. Turn around, mate.

[00:37:15]Maybe put your face there. That's uglier.

[00:37:19]Turn around, buddy.

[00:37:23]There we go. Good boy.

[00:37:25]Yep.

[00:37:28]>> [music] >> He's got to have a name. What's your name, mister?

[00:37:33]All right.

[00:37:35]Yeah, yeah, I got that.

[00:37:37]Squawky.

[00:37:38]His name's Squawky.

[00:37:40]It's Squawky.

[00:37:41]We were concerned back at the factory that Squawky had an injured wing.

[00:37:45]Down at the factory, I saw something under that that one. Here, do you want to hold his head for one sec?

[00:37:51]See that?

[00:37:53]It's It doesn't look like I think it's just a bit of poo.

[00:37:58]You'd think after helping him, he'd show a bit of appreciation, but all we get is abuse of the eardrums.

[00:38:06]Come on, mate.

[00:38:07]You're noisy.

[00:38:09]Oh, you don't like Uncle Aubrey.

[00:38:11]Oh, no, I don't like you neither. Don't look at him, then. You don't have to look at him.

[00:38:16]You don't have to look at him. That's it.

[00:38:19]Um who was it?

[00:38:22]Come on, mate.

[00:38:25]What Squawky needs now is some food and rest.

[00:38:28]Question is, will he let me feed him?

[00:38:31]There you go.

[00:38:33]Squawky's a wild bird.

[00:38:35]So, I didn't think he'd be a part of hand-feeding.

[00:38:41]Peregrine falcons are the fastest [music] animal on Earth. These bad boys can hit into their prey at 300 km an hour, say a pigeon. They stun it, clenching the talons, pluck it, and tear into the flesh.

[00:38:55]Go on.

[00:38:56]You got to learn how to do this, mate.

[00:38:57]Maybe that's your problem.

[00:38:59]Here you go.

[00:39:01]You going to eat it? Couple of days, you'll be strong. We'll let you go.

[00:39:04]I'm trying to give him a bit of food, but I can see that he can't settle. He wants nothing to do with this. He won't hand-feed. Here you go, mate.

[00:39:12]Just one bite. How about one bite?

[00:39:17]Almost. He's He's a bit freaked out from the whole thing, [music] but I persisted.

[00:39:24]Good boy. Ah, look at [music] that. It's all right.

[00:39:27]Hey, it's like he took a big breath, ah, and he realizes this dude's [music] not going to hurt me, and he's taking food.

[00:39:33]And that's what we want. We want him to eat.

[00:39:38]He was starving. He's eaten twice what I'd expect a bird of prey to eat a day.

[00:39:42][music] He really needed that food. He was really lucky to be found by people that cared because whether it was a fox, cat, or a car, it was a one-way street for him down there.

[00:39:52]So, if he can just eat and rest, I think a few days a week we let him go. We'll leave this here for you.

[00:39:59]Here you go.

[00:40:00]We'll see you tomorrow.

[00:40:01]You get some rest.

[00:40:05]Hi, mate.

[00:40:07]You look good and healthy.

[00:40:10]It's been long enough, mate. It's time for you to go.

[00:40:14]It's a few weeks later and Squawky's a different bird.

[00:40:18]Good bird.

[00:40:20]He needed feeding up and building up a bit of strength.

[00:40:23]>> [music] >> He was a young bird and couldn't fend for himself. Really, it was an easy fix.

[00:40:27]Feed, shelter, and a bit of TLC. [music] That's a boy. Look at you.

[00:40:33]I can feel you're stronger. Hey.

[00:40:36]Things look good for him. He fledged [music] from a nest probably with other chicks. He's learned all the things he needed to from his parents and he still has those skills now. We've just given him a little bit of help and he'll be [music] fine.

[00:40:50]You feel good.

[00:40:51]You feel clear.

[00:40:55]He's got a bit of attitude.

[00:40:57]Let's go. All right, let's go.

[00:41:01]We know a beautiful little spot that's only about a kilometer away from where we actually captured him.

[00:41:06]We're going to let him go there because it's a good spot. We know there's birds around, which is what falcons [music] eat, and it's just a good environment where there's no cats, there's no cars, and it's the best start for him.

[00:41:16]Go.

[00:41:20]Go.

[00:41:22]And the ultimate aim, of course, is for Squawky to get over this hurdle, find a mate, and have chicks of his own. What more could you want?

[00:41:30]One, two, three.

[00:41:35]Up he goes. Keep [music] going.

[00:41:38]Look at him go. All the way. Straight through the bushes and gone. No stopping.

[00:41:42]That was good. That magpie come right down and try and hit him. That was good but I have to start with I thought he was going down and then >> He glided. Yep, he picked up.

[00:41:52]Well, it's nice to let him go. Not every day we get to do that. And he he took off. No looking back.

[00:42:03]>> [music]