It is a common occurrence that certain incidents circulate on social media in a way that causes unnecessary panic. As a video of crocodiles preying on humans while pretending to be drowning was circulated on social media, we decided to do a fact check regarding that.
Social Media Posts
A video was circulated in social media, around the world, in which a crocodile imitates a drowning person, while extending its arms to attract the attention of the people, and then preying on them.
It was posted in Tik Tok and Instagram as well.
However, a social media post with an explanation regarding the video was posted in Sri Lankan social media as well, and it was shared among many people.
The note mentioned there is as follows.
“Could there be crocodile that pretend to be drowning and then prey on humans?
Last year, a video of a crocodile swimming in the Barito River in Indonesia went viral on social media.
It shows a crocodile raising its arms above the water and writhing in the water like a drowning man.
According to some websites, a man who has mistakenly thought that it is a person, has tried to save the person (Unconfirmed).
However, the sight of this crocodile is quite frightening, and with careful observation, people will be able to tell the difference between a crocodile’s hand and a human hand.
Some people speculate that this may be a tactic used by crocodiles to lure prey to them.
However, since this is the behavior of a single crocodile, no definitive explanation has been offered, and it is reported that this is most likely due to a neurological disorder or other condition in the animal.
Some studies have revealed that crocodiles, a group of animals that have undergone various evolutions since the time of the dinosaurs, have some degree of instinctive intelligence.
Reports states that these crocodiles have taken up 160 – 180 human lives per year, with the number last year being 167!
Many research say that this may be a normal crocodile behavior, or a sign of a disorder, and thus there should be no undue fear.”
Therefore, we conducted further investigation in this regard as follows.
Fact Check
A video showing the strange behavior of a crocodile swimming in the Barito River in Indonesia has gone viral on social media. According to it, a crocodile is seen thrashing around in the water like a drowning man, raising its arms above the water, and preying on people who come to its rescue.
As these social media posts circulated among social media users, various media channels outlets reported on the incident. They also reported on the incident along with expert opinions related to the incident.
Crocodiles are known for their intelligence and are considered as “modern hunters”, but experts have rejected the idea that they would deliberately pull people into the water.
Accordingly, Casey Holliday, a professor of pathology and anatomical sciences at the University of Missouri, says that it is a “crazy” concept to say that crocodiles act intentionally.
According to a report on the LAD Bible website, zoologist Graham Webb has said that this idea is completely imaginary and has no basis in fact. He has pointed out that it could also be a situation where the crocodile’s tail was grabbed by another animal or because it was unable to swim normally.
Brandon Sideleau, who is a crocodile specialist, at the Charles Darwin University in Australia, says the crocodile may have had prey in its mouth, which is why it could be displaying such unusual behavior.
He has mentioned that he has seen crocodiles in some rivers circling underwater. According to his observations he points out that they may appear to be holding their arms up when they have food in their jaws, and in this incident, there may have been several prey items in the crocodile’s mouth or could be a neurological condition.
He further mentioned that although he had seen ‘unusual’ behavior before, there was a reasonable explanation for all of it, and that although crocodiles are very intelligent, they certainly wouldn’t imitate a drowning person to attract prey.
Brandon also stated that the misinformation surrounding this video could affect the management of crocodile population.
The expert added that approximately 100 people are killed by crocodiles annually in Indonesia, which has fewer crocodiles than Australia.
Have there been any reported incidents of crocodiles pretending to be drowning and preying on humans?
It is estimated that around 1000 crocodiles die annually worldwide.
The most serious deaths from crocodiles often occur in areas with high crocodile population and human activity. The BBC reports that Indonesia has the highest number of crocodile attacks globally, and that a crocodile named Gustav has killed more than 300 people in Burundi.
But there is no evidence in the world that crocodiles have ever been recorded as preying on humans by pretending to be drowning.
Deaths occurred by crocodiles in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka crocodile attacks are relatively rare compared to other human wildlife conflicts. However, there have been fatalities, including the death of a British journalist in Arugam Bay in 2017 and the death of a police officer in the Nilwala River in 2020.
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Conclusion
Our investigation shows that the video showing a crocodile trying to prey on people, while pretending to be drowning in a river is baseless.
There has been no evidence of any deaths resulted from such an incident and specialists point out that the behavior of this crocodile, reported from Indonesia, may have been caused because of storing food in its jaws or by damages occurred to the nerves of the crocodile.
Title:Is it possible for crocodiles to prey on humans by pretending to be drowning?
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: Insight
