Orinoco Crocodile Deadly 60 Bites

'On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters,

'and here's just one of my many favourites.

'This is Deadly 60 Bites.'

Whoa!

'We're in Venezuela,

to help in the effort to save the Orinoco crocodile.

'I teamed up with a conservation programme

'working to preserve these predators.'

'We need to find a nesting female, and it looks like we're in luck.'

OK. Can you come in and...? Oy, oy, oy!

'This female is particularly aggressive.

'She wouldn't normally act like this,

'so perhaps she's got something important to protect.'

It seems likely she's dug a nest

and laid her eggs inside of it.

We'll go in and take some of those eggs

so they can be raised in captivity, then released.

So we'll get ourselves set up, get a much bigger stick

and try and collect the eggs off this very protective mother.

'By raising them in captivity,

'their chances of survival are greatly increased.

'Unfortunately, she doesn't know we're trying to help her.'

'Some estimates suggest there are only 250 animals left in the wild.

'To ensure their survival, we need a firm hand and a steady nerve.'

So...I know that looked pretty brutal,

but we need now to keep her in the water

to buy Jack time to be able to dig up these eggs.

Yeah. I'm right behind you.

There is something threatening

about the way that a crocodile sinks down into the water.

And all of a sudden a croc that's three, three and a half metres long,

and could weigh a quarter of a ton just disappears.

'Despite the size of the mother,

'the eggs and hatchlings are vulnerable in the wild.

'We can make sure this brood are safe from predators

'until they're old enough to take care of themselves,

'when they'll be released. It's simple, but very effective.'

-OK, Jack, are we good to go?

-We're good.

'A good day's work and a step in the right direction

'for this endangered marvellous mother.'

The Orinoco crocodile

finally starting to make a comeback here in Venezuela.

Protective mother and superlative hunter.

And definitely going on my list.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd