This American Influencer Traveled to Australia to Film Himself Tackling Crocodiles. Australians Aren’t Happy

Welcome to another episode of Americans being badly behaved in Australia (anyone remember the wombat grabber?). In this edition, Australian officials, wildlife experts, and others are criticizing U.S.-based influencer Mike Holston, aka “therealtarzann” on social media, after he posted two videos of himself down under and tackling crocodiles, shirtless.

Queensland officials have confirmed that they are “actively investigating two videos circulating on social media,” The Guardian reporteed. Meanwhile, Bob Irwin—father of Australia’s Crocodile Hunter, the late Steve Irwin—condemned Holston’s behavior.

“When people compare the behaviour of blokes like Mike Holston to what Steve did, or claim they were influenced by him, it really gets under my skin,” Irwin said, as reported by the Brisbane Times. “You can’t even put them in the same sentence. Everything Steve did … was to respect wildlife.”

Steve Irwin was an Australian wildlife conservationist and TV personality who developed successful crocodile capture and management techniques. He passed away in 2006 after being stung by a stingray.

What happened to the crocodiles?

In the most recent of two crocodile videos, Holston appears to chase a young saltwater crocodile into tall grass alongside a riverbank. In the next shot he holds the reptile up for the camera, squeezing the animal aggressively on the throat, draping the rest of its body over his leg.

Saltwater crocodiles are the largest reptile on Earth and considered to be extremely dangerous, but the one Holston is holding is small and appears motionless in the video. Experts have voiced concerns about this poor croc, with Irwin saying in a statement that it may be showing signs of dangerous stress. Holston releases the crocodile at the end of the video and has defended his actions.

In the other video, the influencer appears to chase after a freshwater crocodile in shallow water. In the video, he leaps onto the animal, and the two tussle as the cameraperson approaches, revealing a bloody injury on Holston’s arm. “He got ahold of me,” Holston seems to say in the video. “But I got ahold of him!”

Unlike the saltwater crocodile, this one appears to make distressed noises before thrashing out of Holston’s grip.

Both of the posts are tagged with the location of Lockhart River, Queensland.

Gizmodo has reached out to Holston for comment.

Australia pleads people stop interfering with wildlife

A spokesperson for Queensland’s environment department said it was a “significant offence to interfere with freshwater crocodiles in Queensland, not to mention extremely dangerous,” ABC Australia reported.

Last year, Queensland introduced new legislation in a bid to prevent dangerous crocodile interactions. Bob Irwin and others nicknamed it “dickhead legislation,” according to The Guardian. “And that’s because that’s exactly what content creators like the Real Tarzann are in my books – dickheads,” he explained.