還暦男性、ポケットナイフでワニ撃退　豪

【ブリスベンＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリアで、釣りをしていた男性（６０）が大きなワニに襲われ、川に引きずり込まれたものの、ポケットナイフで応戦して「幸運にも」命拾いした。クイーンズランド州の野生生物保護当局が１０日、明らかにした。（写真は資料写真）
　男性がワニに襲われたのは、北東端に位置するヨーク岬半島の人里離れた川岸。州野生生物保護当局のマット・ブライエン氏は「格闘の末、男性は運良く体長４～４．５メートルのワニから逃れられた。そんなことができる確率はゼロに近い」と述べた。
　男性は先週、ケアンズから車で約５時間のホープベール近郊に所有する土地に釣りに出掛けた。釣りざおの仕掛けを川に投げ込もうとした瞬間、ワニが突進してくるのを見たという。
　男性は足をかまれて引き倒された。とっさに近くに生えていたマングローブの枝につかまったが、川の中に引きずり込まれてしまった。そこで、男性はベルトに差していたポケットナイフを取り出し、ワニが口を開けて自分を解放するまで何度も頭部を刺した。解放されたところで川岸にはい上がったという。
　男性はクックタウンの病院で応急処置を受けた後、ケアンズの病院に搬送され、現在も入院している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/11/12-18:59）

A 60-year-old Australian man escaped the jaws of a large crocodile by stabbing it repeatedly in the head with his pocket knife as it dragged him into a river, local authorities said Wednesday.
Wildlife officers said the man was lucky to be alive after the terrifying attack at a remote riverbank in Australia's far northern Cape York Peninsula.
There was a struggle and he fortunately escaped the grip of a four to four-and-a-half-metre crocodile. The odds of doing that are about zero, said the Queensland state environment department's Matt Brien.
The man had gone fishing on his property last week near Hope Vale, about five hours' drive from Cairns, and he shooed away a bull from the riverbank so he could take over the spot.
Then, the crocodile struck.
- 'It lunged at him' -
He described seeing the crocodile seconds before it lunged at him, knocking him over as he was about to cast his fishing rod, the department said in a statement.
He grabbed onto the branch of a mangrove tree in a desperate attempt to stay out of the river as the crocodile's jaws clamped around his boots. But he quickly lost the tug-of-war and was pulled in.
The man said that as he entered the water, he managed to retrieve his knife from his belt and stabbed the crocodile in its head until it let him go.
The man then scrambled up the bank to escape the predator.
After emergency treatment at Cooktown Hospital, he was later flown to Cairns Hospital where he was still recovering a week later.
A health department spokeswoman said he was in a stable condition.
- 'Harrowing experience' -
Wildlife officers who interviewed the man Tuesday confirmed that his injuries were consistent with a crocodile attack.
It appears that the crocodile was targeting the bull or the cow at the time, and he's just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, Brien told reporters.
It's an absolutely harrowing experience. He won't forget that in a long time.
Brien said the man had been left quite traumatised by the incident, adding he would need time for healing, both mentally and physically.
Saltwater crocodile numbers have exploded in Australia's croc country since they were declared a protected species in 1971, with attacks increasing in recent years.
The salties, which can grow up to seven metres long and weigh more than a tonne, are a common feature of the vast continent's tropical north.
Fatalities remain relatively rare, with locals and visitors warned to keep their distance from crocodile-inhabited waterways.