A zoologist dressed up as a crocodile and climbed into their lair (5 photos)

No, he's not crazy! Barr just wanted to better study the life of crocodiles. And at the same time, make an interesting popular science report for the Discovery TV channel.





The idea is extremely bold! Nile crocodiles are the largest in Africa. They grow up to 6 meters in length. Bullets fly off their skins.

The scientist was in serious danger - he could be swallowed by giant predators.

He took such risks for the scientific purpose of attaching sensors to crocodiles to monitor their migration and the temperature in their den. The task is important, because Nile crocodiles are on the verge of extinction. And Barr went to Tanzania.



Together with engineers from National Geographic, the zoologist designed a camouflage suit. A prosthetic crocodile head attached to the front. He himself was in a metal protective net, which he covered with a tarpaulin. She was soaked in scent from crocodiles and hippos to mask his human scent.

Thus protected, he crawled on all fours towards the terrible reptiles. It was inconvenient to move around. In addition, it is very hot, because the thermometer rose above 48 degrees! And the structure itself weighed 36 kilograms.

Let me remind you that it was not a young, strong paratrooper crawling in a crocodile suit, but a 47-year-old scientist.





After crocodiles, Barr switched to snakes

The first danger on the way was a herd of hippopotamuses. His scientist successfully navigated dangerously close to deadly animals. They didn't pay any attention to the pseudo-crocodile.



After that, he climbed up to his “relatives”.

At first everything was calm, but then Barr made a mistake - he made a sudden movement. And the other crocodile turned around and they stood face to face. The zoologist did not move so as not to provoke an attack. At this time, another giant crocodile approached him from behind.



Barr attaches sensors to the crocodile

“But instead of attacking, the crocodile settled down next to me and lay down. He mistook me for another crocodile,” the scientist recalls.

“That day I literally became a crocodile, the animal I’ve dedicated my career to studying.”

As a result, the scientist waited 10 minutes and was able to retreat. But after this incident, he no longer takes such risks. He says that he feels too old for such missions - the energy is no longer the same as in his youth.

Now the scientist is 60 years old, and he continues to popularize science. But he does this from the comfortable chair of a TV presenter.