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Instagram<\/p>\nKaty Watson and<\/p>\n
Tiffanie TurnbullSydney<\/p>\n
Instagram<\/p>\n
Holston is the second influencer to attract criticism for their dealings with Australian wildlife this year<\/p>\n
Australian authorities are investigating a US influencer who has sparked controversy by filming himself trapping wild crocodiles in Queensland.<\/p>\n
Mike Holston is under fire for two videos posted for his millions of followers online – one showing him wrestling a freshwater crocodile, and another showing him manhandling a saltwater crocodile, one of the planet’s deadliest creatures.<\/p>\n
Mr Holston says he made the videos for “educational purposes”, but wildlife experts say his behaviour is cruel and he’s been labelled a “goose” by the state’s leader.<\/p>\n
Queensland officials say the influencer’s actions, which can attract fines of up to A$37,500 (\u00a318,300, $24,776), are “extremely dangerous and illegal”.<\/p>\n
In a video posted last week to his Instagram, Mr Holston – who goes by “The Real Tarzann” on social media – can be seen jumping into shallow water to chase a freshwater crocodile.<\/p>\n
The animal draws blood before Mr Holston secures it, and can be heard calling out in the video.<\/p>\n
“This is what dreams are made of,” the influencer says in the footage, adding that he had wanted to come to Australia since he was a child.<\/p>\n
A second video shows Mr Holston heading into marshland to capture a juvenile saltwater crocodile. Usually one of the world’s most aggressive reptiles, the animal is largely limp as he holds it by the neck and lifts it for the camera. <\/p>\n
In both videos, he can be seen releasing the animals back to the wild.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Queensland’s environment department confirmed officials were investigating the incidents, which appear to have been filmed on the Lockhart River in Cape York.<\/p>\n
“Let us be clear: people should not attempt to capture freshwater or saltwater crocodiles in Queensland, unless they are trained and licensed to do so,” the statement said.<\/p>\n
On-the-spot fines of A$8,345 apply for anyone found to be interfering with a saltwater crocodile in Queensland, but penalties can climb to more than four times that in some cases.<\/p>\n
The state government also introduced new legislation last year aimed at cracking down on dangerous crocodile interactions, which included making it an offence to unintentionally feed a crocodile by dumping food that attracts the reptiles to a public space.<\/p>\n
While Mr Holston’s videos have been viewed – and liked – by masses of people online, there has also been growing condemnation of his actions. <\/p>\n
Crocodile experts have expressed concern about the saltwater crocodile pictured in particular, saying it is unusual that it wasn’t thrashing about, trying to escape.<\/p>\n
The father of the late Australian naturalist Steve Irwin has also weighed in, suggesting people like Mr Holston should be “booted out the door” if they don’t respect Australia’s wildlife.<\/p>\n
Mr Irwin stressed the behaviour was far removed from the activities of his own son – who died in 2006 – aged 44.<\/p>\n
“This isn’t a Steve Irwin issue. This is about an individual illegally interfering with protected fauna,” Mr Irwin said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“Anyone who actually knows how to handle crocodiles knows they don’t respond well to capture. It’s a specialised skill to do it without causing dangerous stress and lactic acid build-up – and this bloke clearly had no clue.”<\/p>\n
He said social media is playing a huge role in “glorifying” harmful wildlife interactions, and called for greater penalties for such behaviour – adding the current ones are “laughable” compared to the money that can be made off it online.<\/p>\n
“These posts can have disastrous consequences for both people and wildlife.”<\/p>\n
Mr Holston, though, has defended his actions. In a comment on the video of him handling the saltwater crocodile, he said the animal had been released “after a few up-close looks and photos”.<\/p>\n
He said he did not “encourage anyone to try to recreate” the videos.<\/p>\n
The outrage over Mr Holston’s videos comes just a few months after another US influencer was widely condemned for posting a video of her taking a baby wombat from the side of a road. She appeared to be laughing and running away from the distraught mother wombat.<\/p>\n
Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese waded into the discussion back in March, suggesting the woman, Sam Jones, do the same with animals that “can actually fight back”.<\/p>\n
“Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there,” he said to her.<\/p>\n
She left the country soon after anger erupted.<\/p>\n
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