Photo © AFP PHOTO/Greg Wood/Files

The race has been thrown wide open, thanks to an intoxicated man who climbed into a crocodile enclosure to ride a 5-metre saltie called Fatso.

Broome Police Acting Sen Sgt Alan Armstrong said that after being ejected from the pub next door for being drunk, the man had first climbed inside a different crocodile enclosure at Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park and tried to feed the reptile some beer.When that failed to arouse the crocodile's interest, he climbed the fence into Fatso's pen.

The man told police he wanted to sit on the back of Fatso, a five metre saltwater crocodile, and touch him. Police say the crocodile turned and snapped at the man, catching his calf muscle, leaving big puncture marks.

The man managed to clamber back over the fence, staggering up the road to get assistance at Divers Tavern.

Sgt Roger Haynes perhaps put it politely, saying "We do know he’s from the Eastern States and he doesn't seem to have a very good understanding of the nature of saltwater crocs in the Kimberley." The man remains in a stable condition at Broome Hospital.