Brady Barr - Crocodile Encounters: and More True Stories of Adventures with Animals

Copyright 2012 National Geographic Society

All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole
or any part of the contents without written
permission from the publisher is prohibited.

Published by the National Geographic Society
John M. Fahey, Jr., Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
Timothy T. Kelly, President
Declan Moore, Executive Vice President;
President, Publishing and Digital Media
Melina Gerosa Bellows, Executive Vice
President; Chief Creative Officer, Books,
Kids, and Family

Prepared by the Book Division
Hector Sierra, Senior Vice President and
General Manager
Nancy Laties Feresten, Senior Vice President,
Editor in Chief, Childrens Books
Jonathan Halling, Design Director, Books and
Childrens Publishing
Jay Sumner, Director of Photography,
Childrens Publishing
Jennifer Emmett, Editorial Director,
Childrens Books
Eva Absher-Schantz, Managing Art Director,
Childrens Books
Carl Mehler, Director of Maps
R. Gary Colbert, Production Director
Jennifer A. Thornton, Director of
Managing Editorial

Staff for This Book
Becky Baines, Laura F. Marsh, Project Editors
Lori Epstein, Illustrations Editor
Eva Absher-Schantz, Art Director
YAY! Design, Designer
Grace Hill, Associate Managing Editor
Joan Gossett, Production Editor
Lewis R. Bassford, Production Manager
Susan Borke, Legal and Business Affairs
Kate Olesin, Assistant Editor
Kathryn Robbins, Design Production Assistant
Hillary Moloney, Illustrations Assistant

Manufacturing and Quality Management
Phillip L. Schlosser, Senior Vice President
Chris Brown, Vice President, NG Book
Manufacturing
George Bounelis, Vice President,
Production Services
Nicole Elliott, Manager
Rachel Faulise, Manager
Robert L. Barr, Manager

The National Geographic Society is one of the worlds largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge, the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. National Geographic reflects the world through its magazines, television programs, films, music and radio, books, DVDs, maps, exhibitions, live events, school publishing programs, interactive media and merchandise. National Geographic magazine, the Societys official journal, published in English and 33 local-language editions, is read by more than 38 million people each month. The National Geographic Channel reaches 320 million households in 34 languages in 166 countries. National Geographic Digital Media receives more than 15 million visitors a month. National Geographic has funded more than 9,400 scientific research, conservation, and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geography literacy. For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com.

For more information, please call
1-800-NGS LINE (647-5463) or
write to the following address:
National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A.

Visit us online at nationalgeographic.com/books

For librarians and teachers: ngchildrensbooks.org

More for kids from National Geographic:
kids.nationalgeographic.com

For rights or permissions inquiries, please
contact National Geographic Books
Subsidiary Rights:

eISBN: 978-1-4263-1030-0

v3.1

Version: 2017-07-07

UNDERCOVER CROC

Thats me, zoologist Brady Barr, dressed in a special crocodile suit. My disguise let me get close to the crocs and collect information.

My team and I are ready for our dangerous mission in Tanzania.

Chapter 1

Croc DISGUISE

Hi, my name is Brady Barr, and Im a zoologist. That means I study animals. Ive studied all kinds of animals in about 70 countries on Earth. But of all the animals Ive worked with, crocodiles are my favorite.

There are 23 different types, or species, of crocodilians (sounds like krah-koh-DIL-ee-uhns). Ive had the chance to see them all in the wild. Ive been up close to the wide-snouted alligators and caimans (sounds like KAY-mens). Ive been nose-to-nose with the narrow-jawed crocodiles. And Ive even studied the weird and wonderful gharial (sounds like GAR-ree-uhl).

Sometimes I have to catch wild crocodiles for my work. For some studies, my team and I need to weigh and measure crocs. For other studies, we need to attach high-tech devices to the crocs. These devices help us keep track of the crocs, or they record information about changes in the areas where the crocs live.

The number of people on Earth is growing every year. More humans on the planet means people need more space. People are moving into areas that were once the wild homes, or habitats, of crocs. With their habitats shrinking, many species of crocodilians are dying out. When a species is dying out, we say it is an endangered species.

The more we know about endangered species and what they need, the better we can help them. But catching wild crocs is a dangerous jobfor me and for the crocs!

To catch a croc, I usually have to snare it with a rope. Then I wrestle it until it is very tired. I jump onto its back and tie its jaws shut so it cant bite. Then I tie its legs. Thats a lot easier said than done!

Even a tired crocodile is very strong. Catching one can turn dangerous quickly. Crocodiles are not used to having people jump on their backs. It is strange for them.

Endangered Crocs

About one-third of all croc species are endangered. In fact, many are among the most endangered animals on the planet. The Philippine crocodile used to live in lakes and rivers throughout the Philippines (sounds like FILL-ih-peens). Today it is only found in a few areas. As the number of humans has grown, more and more of its wild habitat has been turned into farmland.

Loss of habitat has driven the Philippine crocodile almost to extinction. Once a species is extinct, its gone forever.

Thats why I am always looking for better ways to handle the crocs and get the information we need.

We know that crocodiles are calmer around other crocs than around humans. If only another croc could find out what we need to know. Then it wouldnt be so hard on the animal we want to study.