Danish tourist has arm mauled after accidentally ‘body slamming’ crocodile in Australia

‘I pretty much body slammed him. If somebody body slammed me at night, I would be angry too.’

The freshwater crocodile attacked Mr Bonde after he fell on top of it

A Danish backpacker has had a lucky escape after accidentally “body slamming” a crocodile in Western Australia.

Johnny Bonde was treated in hospital for deep cuts to his right arm after the animal attacked him at Lake Kununurra on Friday.

The 27-year-old told The West Australian he had spotted the freshwater crocodile in the water and had perched on the bank to take photographs of it before losing his footing.

He said: “Next thing I know I’m sliding down the bank and then I just toppled over and landed straight on top of the croc.

“He got a pretty good grip on me and shook me around a bit.

“There was just splashing and I could feel a bit of pain in my arm. It wasn’t that bad though – I was more shocked than anything.”

A video obtained by the newspaper showed Mr Bonde holding his bloodied right arm above a sink.

He said he initially tried to brush off the experience, but realised he would have to go to hospital when the wound would not stop bleeding.

He admitted his first thought when getting out of the water was what his girlfriend would think of him.

“It was the result of me being stupid,” Mr Bonde told the Perth-based Sunday Times.

“I pretty much body slammed him. If somebody body slammed me at night, I would be angry too.”

This latest incident comes just days after footage of a similar attack in the country’s Northern Territory emerged, showing a tour guide almost losing an arm when he leaned over the side of a boat as a crocodile leapt out of the water to bite him.

Australia is home to two species of crocodile: the freshwater crocodile, which measures up to 2.5m long, and saltwater crocodiles, which can grow to 7m.