An Aussie crocodile expert is calling on an American influencer to be deported after he chased and wrestled two juvenile crocodiles and posted the footage to his millions of online followers.
Mike Holston, who calls himself ‘The Real Tarzann’ online, shared footage that showed him running after a small freshwater crocodile near Cape York over the weekend, followed by a second clip of him jumping on top of a young saltwater croc a couple of days later.
Northern Territory croc expert Tommy Hayes isn’t shy when it comes to sharing his opinion about reckless behaviour in croc country.
He told Yahoo News Holston’s actions were not only “completely uncalled for” but also show a complete lack of regard for Australian wildlife and the country as a whole.
“Being a self-proclaimed animal lover, then chasing down a clearly very frightened animal is completely uncalled for and disrespectful, and clearly [done] for the [online] clout,” he said. “Not only is it disrespectful to the animals, it’s disrespectful to the laws put in place to protect them, and us, and also our country.
“Influencers from outside Australia should definitely be fined according to the laws around our wildlife, their visas cancelled and banned from returning, or can only return on very strict conditions,” Tommy added. “Australian influencers should be held accountable and dealt with as well.”
Tommy fears the content creator is only encouraging those viewers to engage with animals in the same way.
“His knowledge of crocodiles is very, very limited from what I’ve watched, it’s literally all for the likes and the attention.
“I think influencers need to remember the definition of the title: to influence. He is 100% going to incite copycats.”
Holston’s Instagram account boasts a following of more than 15 million, with another 1.2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. His first crocodile catch has been viewed more than 32 million times.
Investigation launched into croc catching video
Queensland’s environment department told Yahoo it has launched an investigation into Holston’s video with the freshwater crocodile.
“It is a significant offence to interfere with freshwater crocodiles in Queensland, not to mention extremely dangerous,” a spokesperson for the department said.
The Queensland government can issue on-the-spot fines of $2,670 for disturbing or feeding a crocodile. Cases that go to court can see fines of up to $27,539 imposed.
The outrage over Holston’s videos echoes the reaction to another wildlife incident from March, when another US influencer posted a video online of her picking up a baby wombat and carrying it away from its mother.
There were also calls to cancel the woman’s visa, though she left Australia on her own accord after days of public backlash.
This article by Kamilia Palu was first published by Yahoo News on 8 September 2025.
What you can do
Help to protect wildlife by donating as little as $5 – it only takes a minute!
Our conservation partners spend at least 90 percent of the money raised on actual fieldwork rather than administration and fundraising.
Leave a Reply