US influencer Mike Holston — who posts under the username The Real Tarzan — could face a hefty fine after he posted footage of himself grabbing crocodiles in Far North Queensland.
Holston, who has millions of followers across his multiple social media accounts, has been embroiled in controversy after he shared videos of himself chasing crocodiles.
In one video, which was shared last Friday, Holston can be seen jumping off a boat, spooking the croc, who was busking in the Aussie sun. The content creator is then seen chasing the creature before diving into the water.
After a few splashes, a man behind the camera can be heard saying, “Oh, it’s got him”, before he ran up to Holston, who successfully grabbed the croc with a bloodied arm.
“He got a hold of me, but I got a hold of him,” Holston said as the fresh water croc groaned.
“Fuck, he got a good piece of my arm there.”
As Holston continued to manhandle the crocodile, explaining that seeing these creatures up close “is what dreams are made of”, the creature groaned.
“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to come to Australia,” Holston told the camera.
After posting the video, Holston got a mixed bag of reactions with some of his followers praising him for his bravery and others slamming him for stressing out the croc.
“This is completely useless and dangerous for the crocodile. Freshwater crocodile suffers from stress and could die by stress,” one person wrote.
“Can’t they die from stress. This feels like cruelty. You could’ve just zoomed in and explained the same things,” another penned.
“WTF is wrong with people. ‘I love wildlife! Let’s stress them the f*ck out’. This is not the flex you think it is,” wrote a third.
In another video, Holston can be seen grabbing a saltwater crocodile in the same manner he handled the freshwater one.
Per The Cairns Post, the Department of Environment has confirmed that it has launched an investigation into Holston’s videos.
People who deliberately disturb or feed crocodiles can cop a $2580 fine, with the maximum court-imposed fines reaching $26,615.
At the time of writing, Holston hasn’t been charged, nor has he responded to the backlash he’s received for the way he’s been handling Aussie wildlife.
The post US Influencer Mike Holston Could Face A Hefty Fine For Handling Crocodiles In Qld appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
