Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Picture Credit: CEN
This is the moment a brave man and his friends catch a huge saltwater crocodile bare-handed using only a towel and some string.
The incident was filmed at Dominical Beach in the town of Bahia Ballena de Osa in the western Costa Rican province of Puntarenas and the footage was widely shared on media.
According to local media, the brave group included a lifeguard with previous experience of catching dangerous animals.
Reports said that the 2.5-metre (8.2-foot) male crocodile had been rejected by females and moved to a different habitat where it scared seven surfers and 10 beachgoers.
Picture Credit: CEN/GuardavidasCostaBallena
Fortunately, the huge reptile had been spotted in time and the beach visitors were able to quickly move to a safe distance.
In the footage, the crocodile is seen in the water close to the beach, and another scene shows the moment the group catches it with a towel before sitting on it and tying its mouth with string.
Reports said the croc was taken to a safe location where it will be checked by specialists and released into the wild in an area called Tortuga.
The Costa Rican authorities said that the sightings of crocodiles and caimans have increased by 27 percent in the last two years on the Central American country’s Pacific coast.
Conservation official Franchesco Di Palma said that it is common to see these animals at this time of the year, and that they are commonly males which have been rejected by members of the opposite sex and move to a different habitat.
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