THE STAR (Petsaling Jaya, Malaysia) 29 August 06 The real Crocodile Dundee (Michael Cheang)
As a herpetologist who also makes wildlife documentaries, Dr Brady Barr has certainly had his share of dangerous encounters. One particular incident in Africa last January stood out, however; one which he tells people, “I should have died on that one.”
He had crawled into an aardvark (an ant-eating mammal native to Africa) burrow in search of whatever animals that seek shelter in the underground lair when he suddenly confronted a venomous cobra.
“It was the scariest moment of my life,” said Barr. “Instead of just hooding up like they usually do, this one struck at me immediately. I instinctively grabbed it and threw it but as soon as it hits the ground, it struck again.
“So there I was, dodging the strikes, grabbing and throwing it over and over again, with my life flashing before my eyes. After a few more strikes, it finally stops and hoods up.
“At that point, I didn’t know what to do. If I turn around or pick it up, it would bite me. So we just stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Eventually, I decided to catch it, and got out of there alive.
“My wife and mother cried when they saw the film because they could tell from the tone of my voice how scared I really was,” recalled Barr, 43.
Though his closest brush with death was with a venomous snake, Barr’s expertise is in crocodiles and alligators. Over the last 15 years, he has caught and studied over 5,000 wild crocodiles and recently became the first scientist to locate and study all 23 crocodilian species in the wild.
“When I set out to get the last three (the Philippine crocodile, Chinese alligator and false gharial of Borneo), I knew it would be a miracle if I got even one of them because they were not just endangered crocodiles, they’re some of the most endangered animals on the planet.”
Having grown up in the state of Indiana in mid-west United States with nothing but cornfields around him, Barr owes his passion for animals to zoos. “Zoos serve a very important role in introducing kids to exotic animals that they would never get the chance to see in the wild. My parents took me to zoos a lot and that really fuelled my passion and fostered my love for animals.”
When he started his PhD research on crocodiles, little did he know that it would lead to bigger things. As he was out on the field a lot trapping crocodiles, lots of television crews wanted to document him at work. By the time he got his PhD, he already had several job offers from various TV stations.
Nevertheless, the choice of where to go was an easy one. “As a scientist, the only place you want to go is the National Geographic Channel, where everything is about integrity – real science, real explorers. It’s the real deal!” he said. “So I immediately signed on with them and I’ve been there for nine years now, travelling all over the planet and interacting with some of the most mysterious and endangered animals on the planet.”
“I tell people that the only difference between then and now is that my classroom went from 30 kids to one billion people,” he said, laughing. “I’m genuinely excited and passionate about animals, and I try to pass that on to the viewers. I don’t dumb down the science. I try to explain things in a way that the audience can understand, and in a fun way. Being on camera is easy for me because what you see on my shows is what I really am like in real life.”
Nevertheless, the most difficult part for him is trying to get the science accomplished while making the film. He juggles between several roles: acting for the camera, making sure everyone stays safe and producing a film with good science.
To successfully trap crocodiles, Barr relies on experience and preparation. “You have to know what to look for and where, how to approach them and how to catch them. You also have to be persistent and patient, and not give up too soon,” he said. He often seeks the help of local experts or scientists.
The trapping usually takes place at night as crocodiles have very good camouflage and are difficult to see during the day. “But at night, their eyes reflect brightly like beacons when you shine a light at them. They are also blinded temporarily, so I can get close enough to get a rope around its head or snout, after which I would then have an angry, one-tonne animal at the end of that rope.
“There’s no fancy technique or high-tech equipment involved. Once you get a rope around it, it’s just man against beast, muscle against muscle. There’s nothing you can do except to hold on to the rope.”
Crocodiles are capable of tremendous bursts of energy but they quickly get exhausted. Barr then pulls it ashore and jump on its back to immobilise it. After taping its jaws and covering its eyes to calm it down, he takes measurements, tissue and blood samples and sometimes attaches a radio transmitter.
Catching a croc sounds easy coming from him but Barr assures that it is no stroll in the park. “No matter how experienced you may be, accidents will happen. A snake killed one of my best friends in Burma four or five years ago. Another friend who’d worked on crocs for 20 years, had one on the rope but it jumped up and got him by the hand and ripped it right off. Things like these remind me that I’ve got a wife and a little girl, and that I need to be very, very careful.”
Barr hopes to bring worldwide attention to the need to conserve crocodiles but he fears that time may be running out for the species, and wild animals in general, as their habitats dwindle.
People’s wrong perception of crocodiles as monstrous killing machines saddens him too. “Crocs are incredible, complex and intelligent animals that play a very important role in the ecosystem. If people knew more about them, they would look at them a lot more differently.”
Barr believes educating children is crucial to the cause, and cites a successful project in Costa Rica as an example. People were killing crocodiles out of fear, ignorance and for poaching purposes. Nothing could stop them, not even the law.
As a last resort, Barr’s team removed eggs from crocodile nests and gave them to schoolchildren, who were taught how to build incubators and hatch the eggs. Eventually, each kid had their own baby crocodile, which they kept and fed throughout the school year.
“The kids became attached to their crocs and even gave them names. At the end of the school year, when we released all the crocodiles back into the river, kids were crying and telling their parents, ‘Don’t kill anymore crocs, it might be mine!’” Barr recalled. “Since then, there have been no crocodile killings there.
“That’s just one example of a unique way to change people’s perception about an animal. Kids will have to be the future to save the animals, and through them, we can also get to the adults,” he said.
Dangerous Encounters: Brady’s Croc Adventure will air on the National Geographic Channel (Astro Channel 52) at 6pm from Sept 4 to 8. The episode entitled Croc Chronicles: Countdown Croc (Sept 6) documents his hunt for the last three species on his list of 23.
The real Crocodile Dundee