0:00:01 > 0:00:05'On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08'and here's just one of my many favourites.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10'This is Deadly 60 Bites.'
0:00:10 > 0:00:11Whoa!
0:00:15 > 0:00:16'We're in Venezuela,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20to help in the effort to save the Orinoco crocodile.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25'I teamed up with a conservation programme
0:00:25 > 0:00:28'working to preserve these predators.'
0:00:30 > 0:00:35'We need to find a nesting female, and it looks like we're in luck.'
0:00:39 > 0:00:42OK. Can you come in and...? Oy, oy, oy!
0:00:44 > 0:00:46'This female is particularly aggressive.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48'She wouldn't normally act like this,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52'so perhaps she's got something important to protect.'
0:00:52 > 0:00:55It seems likely she's dug a nest
0:00:55 > 0:00:56and laid her eggs inside of it.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59We'll go in and take some of those eggs
0:00:59 > 0:01:02so they can be raised in captivity, then released.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06So we'll get ourselves set up, get a much bigger stick
0:01:06 > 0:01:11and try and collect the eggs off this very protective mother.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13'By raising them in captivity,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17'their chances of survival are greatly increased.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22'Unfortunately, she doesn't know we're trying to help her.'
0:01:27 > 0:01:32'Some estimates suggest there are only 250 animals left in the wild.
0:01:32 > 0:01:38'To ensure their survival, we need a firm hand and a steady nerve.'
0:01:41 > 0:01:45So...I know that looked pretty brutal,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48but we need now to keep her in the water
0:01:48 > 0:01:51to buy Jack time to be able to dig up these eggs.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Yeah. I'm right behind you.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57There is something threatening
0:01:57 > 0:02:00about the way that a crocodile sinks down into the water.
0:02:00 > 0:02:06And all of a sudden a croc that's three, three and a half metres long,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09and could weigh a quarter of a ton just disappears.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13'Despite the size of the mother,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17'the eggs and hatchlings are vulnerable in the wild.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21'We can make sure this brood are safe from predators
0:02:21 > 0:02:25'until they're old enough to take care of themselves,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30'when they'll be released. It's simple, but very effective.'
0:02:30 > 0:02:32- OK, Jack, are we good to go? - We're good.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36'A good day's work and a step in the right direction
0:02:36 > 0:02:40'for this endangered marvellous mother.'
0:02:41 > 0:02:42The Orinoco crocodile
0:02:42 > 0:02:46finally starting to make a comeback here in Venezuela.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Protective mother and superlative hunter.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53And definitely going on my list.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd