“I’m Matt Wright,” the outback wrangler says, as he introduces his Wild Croc Territory series on Netflix.
“I catch and relocate the biggest crocodiles on Earth, to protect them and to keep people safe. Working with crocs is in my blood. And I’d trust my team with my life.”
Most of the year, Wright relocates the dangerous reptiles. In the warmer months, he and his team collect their eggs to keep the population in check.
Wright, 43, is a former soldier and horse wrangler, a chopper pilot and instructor, and a tour organiser turned reality television star – alongside crocodiles with names like Bonecruncher and Fluffy.
The show is Steve Irwin-esque, with the same blokey, Aussie larrikin feel as those of the original crocodile hunter. Tension builds before the team finally get their crocs, gaffa tape their mouths closed and chopper them out of wherever they’ve been threatening humans or livestock to somewhere they won’t.
Wright is now on bail, facing charges after one of his team members on the show, Chris “Willow” Wilson, 34, was killed in a helicopter crash in February while collecting crocodile eggs in remote west Arnhem Land.
He flew into Darwin this week and attended the Northern Territory police station on Tuesday. He was charged with perverting the course of justice and destroying evidence after the February crash. He is also accused of fabricating evidence, interfering with witnesses, making a false declaration and two counts of unlawful entry.
His lawyer, David Newey, says Wright “strenuously denies these charges”.
Wright’s bail conditions state that he not make contact with 50 people, including Wilson’s family and high-profile NT crocodile farmer Mick Burns.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has examined the crash in detail, while questions swirl around what, exactly, happened after it.
The ATSB says in its preliminary report that on 28 February this year, three Robinson R44 helicopters with two people in each (none of whom were Wright), set out to collect crocodile eggs in Arnhem Land.
It was a warm, relatively still day.
The six people took off just after 7am, and went to King River via a fuel drum site, arriving at about 8.50am at a staging post near a crocodile nest.
Crocodile egg collectors are strapped into a harness or sling, which is connected to a 30-metre line, which in turn is attached to the chopper with hooks.
The tricky bit is distracting the mother aggressively protecting her clutch.
A YouTube clip shows Wright and his team trying to tire a crocodile out with a stick and a plastic crate.
They let her deathroll the crate, give her a smack on the head, and move her away from the 50 eggs she has laid.
On that day in February, two of the crews collected eggs from nine nests, over about an hour, before they started worrying that they hadn’t heard from the third crew. One crew went looking and spotted the wreckage of Wilson’s chopper.
The rotor had hit at least one tree before crashing to the ground in a paperbark swamp.
The chopper was sitting in long grass, crushed and broken, its rotors bent.
Wilson – who had been in the sling – was dead, his body was about 40 metres away from the wreck. The lines were no longer attached to the hooks. The pilot, Sebastian Robinson, who had been wearing a four-point seat restraint, was outside the chopper and seriously injured.
The pilot who found them left to find reception, and called for help, which arrived at about 12.30pm.
Wilson’s chopper had not collected any eggs, and neither a radio beacon nor an emergency locator transmitter had been activated.
In the NT, with the right permits, you can capture crocodiles, or take their eggs, which can then be destroyed, or incubated, farmed and sold as live crocodiles.
The industry is thought by some to put a value on crocodile habitat, employing local people, and conserving the population.
The eggs fetch about $25 each. Wright’s team collect about 40,000 eggs annually, describing it as the best way to sustainably manage the population.
He’s the third person to be arrested in relation to the crash.
Earlier in the year NT police officer Neil Mellon was arrested on charges including disclosure of confidential information and obtaining benefit by deception. Michael Burbidge, a helicopter pilot, was charged in September with offences including attempting to pervert the course of justice and destroying evidence.
None of the three arrested were out in the helicopters on that fateful day.
South Australian-born Wright, a perpetually outdoorsy type, lived in Papua New Guinea when he was young before the family moved to Cairns in far north Queensland. He appeared in the media years before he got his first show with National Geographic, Outback Wrangler.
The latest show, Wild Territory, aired on Nine, and on Netflix as Wild Croc Territory.
The NT government pledged $250,000 to the season, saying it expected more than 200 million people to watch.
It features Wright’s wife, Kaia, their son Banjo, and Wilson.
In one episode the team celebrate Wilson getting his own chopper licence by cracking beers and going on a pub crawl – by chopper, naturally (and with a designated pilot).
Wilson’s wife, Danielle Wilson, has asked Netflix to remove the series, accusing the streaming service and its producers of being “seriously lacking in any empathy or respect in continuing to show the series following the tragic death of [her] husband”.
She had assumed, the Australian reported, that it would cease being shown as soon as charges were brought.
Netflix declined to comment, while Channel Nine stopped streaming the show in August.
Danielle Wilson said she was “extremely disappointed” at Netflix’s refusal to comment.
Wright is bailed until 25 January when his case is scheduled to return to the Darwin court. He has been excused from attending.
On Monday, Wright’s representative said in a statement: “What happened was a tragic accident that took the life of a close mate.”
“His immediate concern following the accident was the condition of the two team members on board at the time.
“The next priority was ensuring the other helicopters and team members at the site weren’t at risk and that the location was safe.”
The final episode of Wild Croc Territory has a short statement at the end: “A few weeks after the conclusion of filming, Willow was tragically killed while working in a remote part of his beloved NT. This series is dedicated to him.”
