YOU wouldn't get too close to an elephant says Bruce, so why do people demonise crocodiles? The legendary Daintree River guide blames the media.

I’ve been a tour guide on the Daintree River for 24 years. I’ve worked for other people, but we became  established as a family business in 1995. I’ve never looked back. Last year was the busiest on record, this year’s fallen back a little but we anticipated it will keep on being busy until Christmas.

What’s the fascination? Crocodiles, crocodiles and more crocodiles! We get the odd Twitcher from England  wanting to see the birds, but usually he gets stuck in the back seat. Most people want to see crocs.

It’s not a unique river, it’s very typical. The Daintree is the closest to Cairns so we get a lot of  visitors. The freshwater crocs don’t occur here, the mountains are so close to the sea that the water is so cold.

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The animal is the same species across Northern Australia. Same size, same animal. The ranger once told  me he saw one that was five and a half metres, but it would be a freak.

This is the “crocodile infested” Daintree. It annoys me. In fact it’s not infested. We have a low  density population, that’s an official statement. 1.33 adult crocodiles per square kilometre. You’ve got  to respect the crocs, I won’t go in the water alone. I don’t have any great fear of them, but I respect  them.

An animal will try and frighten you to get away.  I just don’t see them as dangerous. Respect the  parameters and you’ll stay safe.

What happened to Fat Albert? We got a call one night and were told that he’d been shot, dragged out of  the water and buried in a hole. The motivation? Fear? Most likely a born & bred old local acting on  behalf of a family who were afraid.

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