Influencer forced to issue a grovelling apology after she fed a crocodile an entire roast chicken in Far North Queensland: ‘I had no idea’

An influencer who bragged about feeding a whole roast chicken to a crocodile has been forced to apologize after being roasted online for the dangerous act.

Jayli Bonow faces a fine of more than $26,000 over a now-deleted video in which she claims she fed a saltwater crocodile on the banks of the Russell River near Babinda, Far North Queensland, on Wednesday.

In the 46-second video, Ms Bonow sat on the bank and watched the crocodile, known as Clyde by locals, before telling her followers she “thought it was a good idea to grab a whole chook and put it on to feed one of the people. crocodiles’.

“Look at him, he’s just feeding on that food and absolutely loving it,” she said.

Ms. Bonow preemptively addressed any criticism she expected the video to provoke.

“I know there will be heroes who will come here and say, ‘You can’t go anywhere near the crocodile,’” she said.

“Well, I haven’t been near it and I stayed well away from the banks, so keep your damn holes shut.”

Ms Bonow’s video caught the attention of the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI), which confirmed on Friday that the video was under investigation.

Ms Bonow faces a fine of more than $26,000 over a now-deleted video (pictured) in which she claims she fed a crocodile near Babinda on Wednesday

“Deliberate feeding of crocodiles can pose a significant risk to other visitors and increase the chance of an attack,” a DESI spokesperson said.

“That’s why penalties have recently been increased for unlawful behavior that endangers lives…” [and] behavior that portrays, promotes or encourages people to feed them is completely irresponsible.”

In September, the maximum penalty imposed by the court for deliberately feeding or disturbing crocodiles was increased $6,452 to $26,615 in Queensland.

Ms Bonow, from Western Australia, replaced her original video with an apology claiming her actions had brought attention to the issue.

“So yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to feed a saltwater crocodile,” she said Thursday.

‘If anything, this is stupid, for the obvious reason that it is so dangerous to feed saltwater crocodiles.

‘I also didn’t know that feeding crocodiles is illegal in Australia and that’s why I wanted to raise awareness about the subject.’

She described her decision to feed the crocodile as a “silly mistake.”

“I was so uneducated yesterday and had no idea that feeding crocodiles was illegal. “Now I know that feeding the crocodiles is harmful to them and to public safety because it changes the behavior of the crocodiles,” she said.

“If I had known that yesterday, I wouldn’t have made this stupid mistake.”

Ms Bonow, from Western Australia, deleted her original video and replaced it with an apology claiming her actions on Thursday had raised awareness of the issue.

Local Member for Barron River Craig Crawford said influencers should use their audience to spread common sense.

‘Feeding crocodiles is not only stupid, it is illegal and the fines run into the thousands. Even if you pretend or claim to do so, you are sending a stupid message to others,” he said.

‘As far northerners, everyone agrees that feeding crocodiles, regardless of people’s opinions of crocs, changes their behavior and causes them to loiter closer, stalking the area and waiting for people.

The Queensland government was forced to issue a warning earlier this year after video emerged of a large crocodile eating a small, deceased shark in Rockhampton in February.

Conservation officer Alexander Peters said he would be ‘very disappointed if people deliberately fed crocodiles to generate likes on social media’.

“Deliberate feeding of crocodiles is extremely foolish and dangerous behavior as it can lead to the animals learning to associate humans with food,” he said.

‘Previous incidents have shown that when a crocodile has been fed, it will begin to approach other people for food, or it will linger in an area where it has previously been fed, waiting for an easy meal.

‘This can endanger unsuspecting people and make the animal vulnerable to removal from the wild.’

Anyone with information about the deliberate feeding of crocodiles is encouraged to call DESI on 1300 130 372.