Tourists visiting Cancun were in for a surprise when their guide, who was leading them down a river, grabbed the tail of a crocodile.
The reptile was approaching the boat to the delight of a woman aboard the boat on the Lagartos River in Yucatan, Mexico, when suddenly the guide reached into the murky water.
The careless guide kept his hand in the water to beckon the crocodile to come closer to the group, tempting the creature to approach him.
The beast approached the boat apparently looking to be fed when it turned and began to walk away.
A tour guide was seen in a viral video trying to provoke a crocodile moments before grabbing it by the tail in the Lagartos River in Yucatan, Mexico.
A crocodile violently splashed its tail in the Lagartos River after a tour guide pulled it despite having been warned by a tourist on the boat.
The woman, who apparently filmed the ordeal, warned the tour guide: “Don’t bother him,” when he dismissed her advice, grabbed the crocodile’s tail and lifted it up.
“Leave him alone, leave him alone, don’t let him jump,” the woman insisted when the crocodile she nicknamed ‘Pachito’ violently waved its tail.
The crocodile could be seen leaving the area as the woman begged the tour guide to move on and a man in the background joked: “Don’t be afraid!”
The tour guide ignored the woman’s suggestion and stayed where he was until the crocodile appeared again. It swam towards the boat while keeping its distance until it finally turned around.
Luis Díaz, director and founder of the Association for the Conservation of Amphibians and Reptiles of Yucatán, warned about the risks and dangers that exist when tour guides employ tactics such as those seen in the video.
The crocodile is a Morelet species and is not considered a threat to humans, according to Luis Diaz, director and founder of the Yucatan Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy in Yucatan, Mexico. He warned that humans can fall victim to this attack if they continue to feed the reptile or try any tactics to get its attention and get closer.
The crocodile swam away from the boat as its tour guide waded into the water and grabbed its tail.
‘They attract the crocodiles by constantly feeding them raw fish, crabs or other things, generating training,’ Diaz said. The Herald of Mexico. ‘They feed them and call them by putting their hand in the water, which causes the crocodiles to associate boats and people with food, so they get too close to the boats.’
Diaz said the crocodile, which is a Morelet species native to Yucatan waters, is not aggressive and would not directly attack humans.
However, there is a chance that they may attack humans if they continue to feed them food.
‘If a tourist comes and gets into the water, these animals associate humans with food and go straight for them, and if they don’t find that reward, they can bite,’ explained Díaz.
(tags to translate)dailymail