When you walk around the zoo, you'll often hear Wes, Brian and Toby referred to collectively as the "Croc Boys." They're the zoo's main croc specialists, after Steve, and their role is not only to care for the crocs and educate the public about crocs through demos, but also to back each other up in dangerous situations.

If you've watched the Crocodile Hunter or Crocodile Hunter Diaries, you've seen the croc captures and the close calls. Steve rushes a croc, grabs it by the jaws, and 10 crew members jump on and hold on for dear life. Or Steve lassos a croc by the jaws and looks for his mates to pull it into a waiting box to safety, all of which requires a lot of teamwork and good communication.

"It's very much about teamwork," says Wes Mannion, Steve's best mate and director of the zoo. "These are apex predators we are dealing with, and crocs are the smartest animals I've ever worked with. They can learn and remember."

For that reason, Wes says, you have to constantly be on your toes and have people around you who can watch your back.

Toby, Brian, Kelsey and Jodie are all trained to be on the lookout and distract disgruntled crocs when the crew must remove croc eggs for incubation, do a croc demonstration or simply clean a croc's pond.

Team communication can be as simple as watching each other, making eye contact and watching the croc closest to you, as Brian and Toby demonstrated during a croc demo with Agro and his girls, Cookie and Lucy. Toby had an eye on Agro in the pond while watching Brian, who had Cookie facing him on land.

Other times the calls are verbal.

It's Fred Engle's job to sit by the fence and watch the whole scene, calling out when a croc is on to any one member of the crew.

Freddo has the best eyes in the business," Wes says of the zoo's groundsman. "He keeps you alive."

Then there is Steve. As Wes says, "He runs the show and he calls it fast and hard." And as we saw during the live relocation, when things go wrong, you need a leader to make the calls that will keep everyone alive.

When it's not Steve, it's Wes; and when it's not Wes, it's Brian. They all back each other up. Everyone who deals with crocs has been trained extensively. According to Wes, training involves at least a year of watching crocs in the wild and in captivity to learn their nature and behavior, to build a rapport with the creatures.

But it's not knowing what to do, it's loving the crocs that matters.

"I look at attitude," Wes says, when considering a new croc keeper. "You've got to love crocs with a passion; love them as much as the koalas."

Wes says you also have to be a gentle person.

"If you've got too much ego or too much bravado, you'll get yourself killed quickly."

Update From the Set of Croc Hunter Live

Steve's special guest is a vision in animal print, big sparkling jewels, spectacular spectacles and purple hair. Couldn't be anyone other than Steve's "auntie," Dame Edna.

Staffers wondered how Dame Edna would get in to feed Casper the croc, the zoo's feistiest, wearing a miniskirt and boots, but the meat on the bamboo stick did the trick.

Steve seemed to be proud.

"It was her first time feeding a croc, and she aimed right for his mouth," Steve said during a press conference after the show. "She did a very admirable job."

When asked about Dame Edna's animal-inspired attire for her appearance, Steve said, "She's sensational. Drop-dead gorgeous, and she's my auntie."

Never Wear White When picking your outfit for a day at the zoo, you'd do best to steer clear of anything white. The crocodiles associate the color with their food buckets, which is why you won't find members of the zoo crew in white shirts or socks. Back to Expedition Main