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Video: Tourists Posing With Crocodile Freak Out When It Snaps at Them

Some tourists got a nasty scare when an inert crocodile suddenly snapped its jaws at them.

In a video from ABC News, the crocodile appears to be resting peaceably as the tourists gather around it for a photo.

Then, all of a sudden, a man standing behind them tosses some prey into the crocodile’s mouth, right as the photographer snaps an image. The assembled group screams and disperses, leaving the crocodile grinning behind them.

There are 23 species of crocodiles in the world, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Australian crocodiles, as seen in the video, are among the largest and heaviest of the crocodiles. 

Crocodiles’ peculiar body shape helps them float on the surface of the water. They keep their eyes, ears and nostrils above water level and the rest of their body submerged below. Different species of crocodiles are identifiable by the shape of the snout, the structures on the surface of the snout and the number of scales on their body. 

Crocodile attacks on humans are considered 100 times deadlier than shark attacks. Most of the attacks have occurred in or near the water. Crocodiles are capable of propelling themselves through the air with their tails. One Australian crocodile even jumped over a tour boat railing in the Adelaide River.

This summer, a crocodile left a six-year-old boy in serious condition in Guerrero, Mexico after grabbing him by the head. The boy had been playing under a bridge with his sister, the New York Post reported. A lifeguard, a parachutist and nearby tourists threw rocks at the crocodile until it released him 10 minutes later.