Crocodile Cage of Death
July 29, 2008
Ever wanted to come face-to-face with a real live crocodile? Well, now you can, at the newly-opened Crocosaurus Cove theme park in Darwin, Australia.
The park’s star attraction, the “Cage of Death”, allows visitors to have a close-encounter with a crocodile from within the safety of a 4-cm-thick acrylic tank that separates them from “Choppa,” a saltwater crocodile who lost both front feet from fighting with other crocodiles.
Visitors will be submerged in the tank for 15 minutes while Choppa tries to take a bite out of them.
While this may sound appealing to thrill seekers, the attraction has sparked criticism from animal rights activists who see it as a cruel way of taunting the crocodile and intruding its home.
General Manager Mike Scott says that the crocs were saved from crocodile farms where they were troublesome and would have otherwise been shot, so being at Crocosaurus Cove actually saved their lives. They are kept in good living conditions and looked after by crocodile experts.
In addition to the “Cage of Death,” the park also features seven crocodile enclosures with underwater viewing windows and one with a swimming area next to the window so visitors can see what it feels like to swim with the crocodiles.
Visitors will also be able to see more than 100 crocodiles, 200 fish, 40 turtles and 76 snakes and lizards, and Burt, a crocodile famous for his role in Crocodile Dundee.
I agree with the animal rights group it is like taunting the animals. Stupidity sells sometimes.
“where is that infernal ticking coming from!”
Whoever says that is cruelty to animals is absolutely right! Thrill seekers?? If you want to risk your life you can jump out of a plane or do other crazy stuff. There is no reason you should be disturbing the life of other living creatures !
While I’m all for animal rights, the comments of the above posters whinging about “taunting the animals” strike me as just plain stupid.
These animals would either have been shot if they stayed on the croc farms, or in the cases of injured animals like “Choppa”, they would have died a horrible lingering death in the wild. Instead, they live in perfect safety, have their food handed to them, and enjoy a medical plan that’s better than MINE.
So they have to endure the awful ordeal of having a stupid hairless monkey wave to them from inside a plastic tube a few times a day. yes, it’s a tragedy, but I believe they’ll find the strength to carry on.
They were going to be euthanized. Now they get hand fed everyday and get to live out there long lives. Who cares if there’s some dude in a cage in their little pond?
they should stop taunting the crocs and let them eat the tourists
If they stop allowing people to “taunt them” then wont the attraction lose it’s funding? If being taunted is keeping them alive, then what’s the problem? It says right in the article the crocodile is missing two legs… it’s not like it would survive in the wild.
This is case and point why people dismiss Animal Right activist as idiots.
Yes, crocodiles are capable of understanding complex behavior like ‘taunting.’ They are not conscious beings, they’ll simply react on instinct and forget about it 10 seconds later.
I never understood the concept of animals having Rights. In an environment devoid of mankind, animals don’t have Rights. Animals tear each other up, cruelly, viciously and without moral judgement.
The mere presence of humans doesn’t confer these rights. Unless maybe if you are incredibly narcisstic.
I understand people having responsibilities to treat animals humanely. To treat animals and vegetables with respect before we eat them.
These animals aren’t being physically abused from what I read. I find it hard to buy the idea that the two legged croc is in mental anguish because it can’t get its snack. I’m sure it didn’t have a 100% kill rate in the wild either.
I don’t endorse this as entertainment, but I don’t condemn it either.
They should provide a way for the person to further provoke the crocodile. Like a rod with a shocker on it or something.
What a great idea! It’s only a matter of time before some dimwitted tourist loses an arm.
I don’t see why this is provoking the croc in a bad way. I mean they are going to keep the croc in the enclosure, which right there should be your argument anyway, and you can’t tell me he won’t get bored in there when he is used to having free roam. At least now he has entertainment trying to bite and kill one of these people. You know someone is going to be dumb enough to get an arm bit off or something and then all that harassment would have been worth it for the croc….lol
its not taunting them, they get well fed and probably wouldn’t bother you if you swam with them, crocs don’t attack people unless they are hungry or you hurt them, so crocs that get fed regularly probably don’t mind a few tourists taking a dunk into there water from behind safety glass, don’t say “your torturing the animals” before you know about the animal and you’ll look less like an asshole.
Thrill seekers, why not get the real deal when it comes to swimming with crocs is concerned. Jump somewhere in Africa in a pool full of real crocs. lol
Yep - I would agree with that.. Thanks for the line.
@sam: I think that crocodiles are actually quite aggresive and may not have any idea that a person swimming with them don’t mean them any harm. You may be thinking of alligators, which are much safer to be around than crocodiles.
Crocodiles in the wild are very territorial and its part of a crocodiles life and part of its mental health to be able to be territorial and to fight for its territory.
By placing humans in its territory, it will be acting as if it was in the wild, fighting for its territory, thus assisting the captive animal good mental health in its captive environment.
Good, healthy practice I feel.