A three-year-old boy was left critically injured after a stranger allegedly lifted him over a safety fence at a British zoo and threw him into a crocodile enclosure packed with reptiles.
The child had been watching the reptiles from a raised walkway at Johnson’s of Old Hurst in Cambridgeshire when the alleged attack unfolded Thursday.
Witnesses said the boy was hurled roughly 15 feet down into the pit after being lifted over a four-foot barrier.
At least one crocodile then attacked him, according to multiple accounts.
Police arrested a 30-year-old Norfolk man at the park on suspicion of attempted murder and said he was not known to the child.
By the next day, he was out on bail until Sept. 18 after officers determined he was “not fit for interview.”
Several locals said the man appeared to be part of an organized zoo trip and was accompanied by at least two carers.
🪖Seventeen battle-tested candidates are ready to strike a decisive blow to the Democrat Machine — but they urgently need resources. 🪖 Join the grassroots push to save the House Majority and back them today! ➡️➡️➡️ Make a 17X impact!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
The boy was later being treated at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where police described him as critical but stable. Witness accounts described devastating injuries, including a broken arm and pelvis.
The zoo’s owner and zookeeper, Tracey Johnson, was credited by witnesses with sprinting into the enclosure and pulling the injured toddler away from the crocodiles.
Afterward, police closed off the reptile area and questioned staff as Tracey and Andy Johnson were seen at the site.
Friends told the Daily Mail that the couple were “mortified” by what happened.
Inside the pit were more than a dozen reptiles, including Nile crocodiles Romeo and Cuddles.
The ambulance service alerted police at 1:24 p.m. after the child suffered serious injuries, Cambridgeshire Police said.
“A three-year-old boy from Cambridgeshire remains in Addenbrooke’s Hospital in a critical but stable condition, following an incident at Johnson’s of Old Hurst yesterday,” a police spokesman said Friday.
The spokesman confirmed that the arrested man was not known to the victim and had been released while the Major Crime Unit continued its work.
“A 30-year-old man from Norfolk, arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, has been released on bail while detectives from our Major Crime Unit conduct further enquiries regarding this incident. The man, who is not known to the victim, was assessed as not being fit for interview,” police said.
Police said zoo staff removed the boy from the enclosure before medics treated him and transported him to the hospital.
“The boy, who sustained serious injuries while in the enclosure, was pulled out by staff from the zoo and received medical treatment at the scene before being taken to hospital,” the spokesman added.
Another reptile encounter across the world ended with a Florida man praised by bystanders and then cited by authorities.
In Everglades National Park, 42-year-old Yatir Nitzany came across an eight-foot Burmese python while out on his bike.
The invasive snake appeared to have recently swallowed prey, he said.
“The python had a visible bulge a third of the way down its body, indicating it had just killed and swallowed another animal,” Nitzany wrote on Facebook.
Nitzany, citing past snake-handling experience, said he felt responsible for stopping the python before it vanished back into the park.
Onlookers filmed and took photos while he held the python until a ranger arrived about half an hour later.
Nitzany said he was initially met with praise for catching the python, a species blamed for devastating ecological damage in South Florida.
“One python can lay 50 eggs, and those pythons 50 more eggs as the process continues,” Nitzany said.
The celebration ended when the ranger handed him a $180 citation for handling wildlife without a permit on federal parkland.
“My action saved thousands of natural wildlife animals,” he wrote, saying he would not hesitate to do the same thing again.
Nitzany later showed up to court on June 12 with support from wildlife advocate Ron Magill and Pets’ Trust Miami president Michael Rosenberg.
Nitzany said the citation was thrown out about 10 minutes before his hearing because it had been “improperly written.”
In California, a far different wildlife emergency left a couple with “significant” injuries after a black bear attacked outside their home in Mammoth Lakes.
Around dawn Monday, a Mammoth Lakes woman found one of her dogs tangled up with a 70-pound black bear just outside the door, police said.
As she tried to break up the fight, the bear redirected its attack toward her.
Her husband rushed out next and was confronted by the animal too.
The couple fought back with whatever they could grab: she used a water bottle, and he used the blunt side of a hatchet.
The bear was critically injured during the struggle. Despite being badly hurt, the couple managed to take themselves for medical care.
The couple’s two dogs were expected to recover from minor injuries.
Wildlife officials later put down the 17-month-old bear, concluding it was a public-safety threat.
“Incidents like this are extremely rare in Mammoth Lakes,” Mammoth Lakes Police Chief Dan Casabians said in a statement.
