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In a series of videos on Instagram, Mike Holston, who goes by @therealtarzann online, tussles with crocodiles. (Photo: AFP) <\/p>\n
SYDNEY – Australian authorities are investigating an American influencer who filmed himself wrestling wild crocodiles in Queensland, condemning the \u201cextremely dangerous and illegal\u201d activity.<\/p>\n
In a series of videos on his Instagram, bare-chested Mike Holston, who goes by @therealtarzann online, tussles with saltwater and freshwater crocodiles.<\/p>\n
In one post, he dives into the water, emerging holding the crocodile by its throat with blood streaming from his elbow.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got a hold of me, but I got a hold of him,\u201d Holston says.<\/p>\n
In another, Holston jumps off a boat and into a bushy waterway in pursuit of a crocodile, which he then wrestles.<\/p>\n
Holston has said the videos, which have amassed millions of views, were for \u201ceducational purposes\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the videos prompted outrage in Australia, where the maximum penalty for interfering with a saltwater crocodile is A$24,800).<\/p>\n
The state of Queensland said Wednesday it was \u201cactively investigating\u201d the two videos.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese actions are extremely dangerous and illegal, and we are actively exploring strong compliance action including fines to deter any person from this type of behaviour,\u201d its environment department said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us be clear: people should not attempt to capture freshwater or saltwater crocodiles in Queensland, unless they are trained and licensed to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s Premier David Crisafulli also called the influencer a \u201cgoose\u201d.<\/p>\n
Holston did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s famously diverse flora and fauna is highly protected and attempts to interfere with it can face strict penalties.<\/p>\n
Another US influencer sparked outrage in March after a video appeared to show her pestering a baby wombat.<\/p>\n
And late celebrity \u201ccrocodile hunter\u201d Steve Irwin\u2019s father, Bob Irwin, said this week people needed to respect Australia\u2019s wildlife or be deported.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese posts can have disastrous consequences for both people and wildlife,\u201d Irwin said.<\/p>\n
Government figures estimate there are between 20,000 and 30,000 saltwater crocodiles in Queensland in a vast area known as \u201cCroc Country\u201d.<\/p>\n
They are a protected and vulnerable species and have been known to attack humans.<\/p>\n
Between December 1985 and April 2024, there were 34 non-fatal attacks and 14 fatal attacks by wild saltwater crocodiles in Queensland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities decry \u2018extremely dangerous and illegal\u2019 activity as videos go viral PUBLISHED : 11 Sep 2025 at 09:48…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2840,49,48,32092,69168,66,323],"class_list":["post-135808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-australia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-crocodiles","tag-influencer","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}