A wildlife park worker died after being mauled by a crocodile that reportedly refused to release him for an hour as colleagues, visitors and police desperately tried to save him.

The handler was feeding the animal at Adventure Park in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday afternoon when it clamped its jaws around his legs.

Footage captured the crocodile dragging him down and performing a ‘death roll’ inside the enclosure.

Another worker entered the enclosure and repeatedly struck the crocodile on the head in an attempt to make it loosen its grip. A visitor also pushed a long pole through the surrounding fence, but those efforts failed to free the injured man.

Koibuga Remdi, who was among the crowd, said that witnesses could do little without putting themselves in danger too, Daily Mail reports. Police were called as the attack continued.

He said: ‘Many of us witnessed the incident, but unfortunately, there was very little we could do to help. Our only option was to call the police for assistance.’

When officers arrived, park employees began pumping water out of the pond so that rescuers could reach the handler more easily. The crocodile continued to hold on to him while he lost a significant amount of blood.

Mr Remdi said: ‘Some workers said the crocodile had been living there since before Papua New Guinea’s independence and had never attacked the people who fed and cared for it. Sadly, today it unexpectedly turned on its caretaker.’

Police eventually opened fire on the animal, but even that didn’t end the ordeal immediately. Mr Remdi claimed that officers had to shoot it 11 times before it died and the handler could finally be pulled free.

‘It did not die from the first shot,’ he said. ‘Police had to fire multiple rounds, and it was only after the eleventh shot that the crocodile finally died.’

The worker was rushed to 3 Mile General Hospital with severe injuries. Despite efforts to save him, he died on Sunday morning, Daily Mail reports.

Visitor Gibson John said that the worker had taken a chicken towards the enclosure shortly before the attack.

John told ABC: ‘He brought the chicken to the fence and the crocodile attacked the person and tried to bring him into the pool. He was in severe pain but he couldn’t scream.

‘He couldn’t speak properly at that time. It was the pain I could see from his eyes. The only thing I could hear him say was, “I haven’t done anything wrong”.’

The victim, whose identity hasn’t been reported, is understood to have worked at Adventure Park for around two years. The precise circumstances that allowed the crocodile to reach him haven’t yet been established.

His death came months after videos shared on social media appeared to show other workers behaving unusually casually around crocodiles at the attraction.

There’s no evidence that the man killed in Saturday’s attack was among the employees seen in those earlier recordings.

In one of the clips, a staff member splashed water towards a crocodile while standing only centimetres from its head.

He then appeared to sit on its back, tug at its neck and stand with one foot resting on the animal during a feeding demonstration.

A separate recording showed another worker approaching the front of an enormous crocodile and touching it on the nose while directly in line with its jaws.

The earlier footage had already prompted concern about how closely employees were interacting with the animals. However, it isn’t clear whether the park took any action in response or whether the conduct shown had any connection to this weekend’s fatal incident.

Crocodiles use death rolls to overpower and dismember prey by rapidly twisting their bodies while maintaining their grip.

In this case, the worker remained conscious during at least part of the prolonged attempt to release him.

Adventure Park has reportedly closed following the death. The Port Moresby attraction is expected to remain shut until further notice, with no reopening date announced.

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