Monster Crocodile, 20 Feet Long, Attacks Tiny Boat: 'Everything Went Black'

An Australian crocodile wrangler, dubbed the "real-life Crocodile Dundee," has described a terrifying experience trying to catch a "monster" 20-foot-long reptile.

Matt Wright is a conservationist, animal relocation expert and star of the Netflix series Wild Croc Territory, which is now available to stream. The program follows Wright and his team as they capture and relocate these giant creatures—one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

The Australian hails from the country's Northern Territory, which is home to more than 100,000 saltwater crocodiles, and in his line of work he has been in several life-threatening situations.

"There are always a few interesting moments with these crocs," Wright told Newsweek, recalling his close encounter with the 20-foot reptile.

At the time, Wright and his team were in a 12-foot boat on a shallow body of water at night. They had just cornered the "massive" crocodile when it attacked the vessel.

"He just grabbed the boat with his teeth and tore the whole side of it out and flipped us upside down," he said. "In that moment, I thought, 'F***ing hell. Everything went black in a heartbeat.

"There was a lot of noise, a lot of crunching. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before. We all just scrambled and ended up in different directions. This animal had the boat [and was] literally just throwing it around like a tin can. It was a pretty wild night. It was unbelievable."

Wright said in situations like this people are completely powerless to do anything against these creatures. "You've got no control. At least he already had something in its mouth and it wasn't us," he said.

The crocodile wrangler, who grew up in the Australian Outback and the wilds of Papua New Guinea, has been around wildlife for as long as he can remember.

"I was catching brown snakes since I was about 6 years old. It's pretty much our day-to-day life in northern Australia. It's great to be able to showcase what we do up there. A lot of people don't get to see that and haven't seen that since the days of Crocodile Dundee."

Despite the inherent dangers in his job, Wright is a conservationist who aims to protect these creatures from human threats while also keeping people from coming to harm.

"Removing them and taking them out of their natural habitat isn't the most ideal situation, but unfortunately, with human populations encroaching into their land, it's a necessity," he said. "If we don't do what we do, then they get shot.

"It's a dangerous job trying to catch these massive crocodiles and move them into areas where they're not going to be disturbed in the future," he continued. "It is important. These animals are 70, 80, 100 years old, and they have every right to be there. Unfortunately, there are a lot of farmers who think that they don't have every right to be there. So I'd rather try and move them the best we can than to see them get killed."

In addition to relocating potentially vulnerable crocodiles, Wright and his team try to educate people on how to work around the presence of these reptiles and coexist in the same environment with them, in order to reduce the need for removals.

Some of the largest crocodiles that Wright relocates pose a problem for the Australian and his team, however.

"If the croc is too big—big apex predators, big alphas—you can't really move it from one place to another place. Otherwise, you're moving a problem from here to here. When they're that big, all they do is cause another problem. They upset the ecosystem, the natural balance in that area, because you've already got your alphas there."

Among the options for these larger crocs is relocation to a park or sanctuary. But with the smaller crocodiles, Wright said, he moves them all the time without a problem.

"They're still trying to work out what the world's all about, and you can move them," he said.

Sometimes, a particular crocodile that Wright has caught turns up again in the same place. He told the story of encountering one reptile he had already captured and removed from the area three times.

"I threw a net and this crocodile erupted from a water hole. I'd caught him in the same area a few years prior to that and a few years prior to that and a few years prior to that. I remember the last time I let him go, he didn't go into the water but he wanted to come out and attack me and chase me up through the jungle. I was like, 'Jeez, I don't know if this was the best idea letting this thing go again.'

"He was always going back to the same area that he lived year in, year out. How he got back there had me stumped because he had to travel 100 miles to get back."

When trying to capture a crocodile, Wright said, there are several things you need to factor in to ensure success.

"You look at the terrain, the weather, the machinery you've got, where you're going to set the trap," he said. "You don't just get up one morning and say, 'I'm gonna go and catch a crocodile.' It takes a few weeks of planning and understanding the movements of the crocodile. A lot of the time, if we don't have to set a trap we'll try and go out and catch him by hand."

But the most important thing to keep in mind, Wright said, is "don't get bitten."

"I've never been bitten. I've got two arms and two legs. If you get bitten, you usually lose one of them."

Despite being very experienced at removing and relocating a wide range of dangerous animals—including wild buffalo and polar bears—in various parts of the world, Wright said he still feels fear when doing his job.

"When you're working with wildlife, if you don't have fear, you're not in touch with what's going on. Fear gives you the edge on how to handle animals, or anything."