Our largest crocodile, Ted,
he sustained some injury to his top jaw
from one of the smaller males.
You'd expect a croc that's 100 years old
to have a few battle scars.
But what Ted has over his snout there
is quite something.
"That sort of area. It's not a superficial wound now."
That's actually quite deep and quite dangerous.
We have to act and act now.
Chris is
back in Cairns for a second week.
He's been invited to work at the busy Marlin Coast
Vet clinic with his mate Rod Gilbert.
"- Morning mate, how are you? - Hey, how are you Chris?"
Yeah pretty well. What’s going on today?
Well, I've just had a call from Hartley's creek.
Ted, one of the older crocodiles up there’s
had an injury.
He needs to be seen as soon as possible.
And you want him seen by me, don’t you?
"- That'd be good, - Course you do."
You've saved this one up, haven’t you?
"- Sort of. - Yeah, that’s what I thought."
Thank you, mate.
As a vet, working up here just seems to have this
intensity about it that really draws me in.
It's hotter, it’s harder and the animals
seem to find themselves in situations
that are nothing like back home.
Half way to his first patient,
Chris spies an unexpected swimmer off the beach.
I’m sure I saw a croc.
Yep.
Yeah, it is.
Wow. Look at that.
Just cruising in the open ocean.
And this is
an idyllic beach.
You don't expect to see a croc here, but
Out, what? One, two, three waves out.
Lurking there, is, I'd say a 4 to 5 metre croc.
I'd say he'd be a male because this time of year
they're looking to breed
so the fact that he's out in the open ocean is strange
but he's probably switching rivers.
Alright.
I think we can safely say he's healthy.
It’s time to go and see a sick one.
The sick croc Chris needs to see is at Hartley's.
40 minutes north of Cairns.
How’re you doing? You Shane?
That's me.
"- How are you? I’m Chris. - Nice to meet you, mate."
"- Sorry I’m a bit late, mate. - That's alright."
"- Already seen a croc today. - Bonus."
Now, where’s this one you want me to look at?
He’s just down here, mate.
Shane Neil is the senior reptile keeper.
He looks after the 3000 deadly crocs
that call this place home.
So just a few of the 3000?
Yeah, there’s just a couple in there.
Our largest crocodile, Ted.
He sustained some injury to his top jaw
from one of the smaller males.
He is a very old crocodile.
So we're always very concerned
about his health and well-being.
"And some of the injuries do look pretty serious to us."
So we go on the boat?
Yep, we’re going on the boat now.
See if we can find him.
Even the boats are kept behind fences here.
Ted lives with lots of other crocs
in an area known as Hartley's Lagoon.
What are you worried about with Ted?
Because obviously,
it's coming to the breeding season now.
"He has been fighting with one of the other males,"
and he has sustained some injuries around his mouth.
And he is a very old crocodile.
And we do think he might be around a hundred,
maybe even older.
"- A hundred? - Yeah."
So we are concerned for his well-being.
Yeah, you bet.
Shane tells me that despite Ted being 100 years old,
he's still competing for the affections
of the women in the lagoon.
In doing that, he's got into a fight with the other males.
Apparently, he's been beaten up pretty bad.
Where's Ted been spotted lately?
Uh, he's not in his usual spot,
so he might be hiding away somewhere.
"Finding the injured croc is going to be a massive task."
The lagoon is huge.
The water is murky and thick with reeds.
So who’s this one here?
That's one of the females.
"- Not him? - Nah, too small for him."
Even though Ted is
"5.4 metres long, he's not easy to find out here."
So are you at all concerned?
The fact that he's just nowhere to be seen
at the moment?
We are a bit just because of the fact
he is an old crocodile, so we really need
to respond to any sort of injuries with him very quickly.
Chris is growing increasingly worried
the old croc could have life threatening injuries,
which would explain why he's nowhere to be found.
Can you nose it right in a bit, Nick?
So you’re thinking he could be in here?
He could be, yeah.
"- Yeah. - Yeah."
Can’t see him.
An hour into the search
and the situation is becoming desperate.
So if we can't find him,
then I can't treat him.
"But Shane's got a plan B, and with hundreds of crocs"
"lurking everywhere, it's a high risk strategy."
So we’re going to the bank now?
We're going to the bank,
and we'll see if we can get him up.
Okay.
Now got reinforcements?
Yeah, we've got Jesse here as a backup,
as our guard in case things go pear shaped.
This is where we're going in.
In far north Queensland.
Chris and the team
from Hartley's Crocodile Adventures
are about to enter a lagoon filled with deadly crocodiles.
They're looking for Ted,
"a monster 5.4 metre croc who's been badly"
"injured in a mating battle with a rival male."
So you're actually going to call him?
"- Yep. - Call him up."
Do you use like a low frequency thing or what
are you like how do you actually attract him?
It's very technical, Chris.
We just say, “Come on.”
You do not.
Seriously.
"Shane's hoping to trick Ted into thinking it's feeding time."
Hopefully a call will lure him out of hiding
Come on
Come on.
Tap the bucket lightly.
You can see the reeds moving.
Just through here now.
Just a shadow under the water.
But it's a big shadow.
All of a sudden, the reeds start parting, they’re shaking,
you can almost feel the ground moving.
He's on his way.
It’s like something out of a horror film.
Come on, Ted. Come on.
So we're okay here right now?
At the moment yeah.
Yeah, if you see us running...
Don't ask questions. Just follow.
Knowing that this croc needs to be looked at
is what's keeping me
anchored to the ground.
But there's a lot of instincts inside you saying,
get out of here.
"As soon as Ted gets to shore, Chris can immediately"
see the old warrior is in serious trouble.
Ted can barely move.
Just looking here,
there’s quite a few puncture wounds
just next to those nostrils there,
but also underneath.
Yeah, there’s actually some puncture wounds underneath.
I’d say the jaws of that croc have actually gone in like that.
And really give him a good rip.
Top and bottom.
You'd expect a croc that's 100 years old
to have a few battle scars.
But what Ted has over his snout there
is quite something.
Just when he breathes, do you hear that?
Doesn't sound right, does it?
Just when he’s exhaling he’s got a little...
Almost like a tyres leaking. You can hear air squirting out.
The wounds look bad.
Just want to squirt this and clean that mud out of the top
wounds there.
"But Chris won't know the full extent of the damage"
until the area is cleaned.
Unbelievable.
I managed to get the swab in there
"and really clean out some of that dead tissue."
"But pretty quickly, Ted tells me he doesn't like it one bit."
"He's turned around and gone into the water,"
but by going to the water,
he's actually given us another important clue
about just how serious his injuries are.
He's got these bubbles coming out there.
"So that puncture that he's had is quite deep"
"and going into some quite sensitive tissue,"
"which explains why he's really pulled away."
Yeah.
When I've started to dig in there and try to clean it out,
he's going to need some antibiotics
"because that sort of area, it’s not a superficial wound now."
"That's actually quite deep and quite dangerous."
It's heartbreaking.
Yeah. It's hard.
Seeing that air rushing out of Ted's mouth
really rams home the fact he was bitten hard.
Because to puncture
"that bone to cause that leakage takes a big hit."
We have to act and act now.
This 5.4 metre monster
was involved in a territorial fight with another male
and now has horrific injuries to his snout
that need urgent treatment.
"I don't generally carry around crocodile tablets."
"- Why not? - Well, exactly."
So the only ones I've got...
Are for dogs.
But this is the perfect antibiotic for him.
So instead of getting one or two.
Yeah?
He's going to get a few more.
How much does he weigh?
Probably about 900 kilos.
He's going to get 18 tablets.
Okay.
10, 11, 12.
Getting antibiotics into a 900 kilo croc.
Can’t exactly put a tablet down his throat.
Or can you?
Alright, so, give him a nice...
piece we can hide these in.
Come
on big Fella.
Would he normally be a bit more active than this?
Yeah, he would just stay up here.
We call him and just straight up.
So he's obviously really feeling it.
"- Absolutely. - Yeah."
Definitely, yeah, he’s definitely not well.
Come on, Ted, come on up here.
It's crucial that Ted gets all the antibiotics.
Come on Ted. Come on.
But the commotion is attracting
an unwelcome onlooker.
A bit of a problem here. We’ve got this little female here now,
she at her age, is very nimble,
she's very fast
And she's a big attack risk.
Chris needs to make sure Ted
gets to the food before the intruder.
Come on.
Come on up here.
Come on.
Alright, Teddy.
You got it? Let’s see it swallowed. Come on.
Good boy.
Good boy. Well done.
Now that Ted's had a good dose of those antibiotics.
They'll be working to assist him over the next 24 hours.
The great thing is,
it will start to heal him from the inside out.
It’s like he's decided this appointment is over.
I got to say that when I was told
that I had to treat a 5.4 metre crocodile
with injuries around his mouth,
I couldn’t have hoped that would go this well.
Which probably means I should leave now
while my dignity and respect is intact.
Alright, mate. Thank you.
No worries, thank you.
See you Teddy.