Animal expert causes backlash by posing with crocodile bound in duct tape

Fans of Outback explorer Matt Wright called on him to 'leave the poor animal alone'

National Geographic TV presenter posted photo on Facebook to his 60,000 followers after he apparently caught the crocodile (Facebook)

An animal expert who caught a crocodile has triggered a backlash after he posted a photo of himself proudly crouching beside the massive reptile with its snout bound in duct tape.

Explorer Matt Wright uploaded the snap online after posing next to the mammoth-sized creature in an un-identified area in the Outback in Australia – and captioned it “bigfella”.

The photo on Facebook, which shows a roped tied around the animal's neck, went viral and attracted more than 4,000 likes and hundreds of shares among his some 60,000 followers.

But the post also caused an angry response, with critics lashing out at the National Geographic TV presenter over the layers of tape wrapped around the reptile's head.

“Did you get enough on him?” Sally-Jo Famlonga said. “Hope that’s not staying on for too long poor boy.”

Dean Adermann said he could see no reason why the crocodile was caught in the first place. “Leave the poor animal alone,” he said.

And Caryl Park replied: “I can't stand crocodiles alligators what ever you want to call them, yes he is huge but time to take the tape off and let him go.”

Others were quick to leap to the defence of Mr Wright, who is known as the Outback Wrangler in his role as a presenter for National Geographic series Wild.

“It’s a crocodile, they’ve been around since the dinosaurs,” Jay Ryan said.

“I’m sure he doesn’t mind a bit of tape on his snout.”

Rebecca De Vries praised Mr Wright for catching the animal any passersby safe from the dangerous creature.

Andrew Buckley pointed out that the reptiles didn’t pose a threat in populated areas, as they would likely be shot on sight.

“Most times these crocs are being relocated as they have clashed with humans/livestock and so if good people don’t relocate them, some redneck will just shoot it,” he said.

The Independent was unable to contact Mr Wright for comment.