We were lucky to catch up with Brandon Sideleau recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brandon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Way back in September of 2010, I came up with the idea of starting a database consisting of verified crocodilian attacks on humans, due to a combination of my interest in crocodilians and how conflict with humans may be affecting their current and historical distribution. The goal would be to use the data to help identify crocodilian attack “hotspots”, circumstances and potential contributing factors. This data could then be used to mitigate future attacks and influence management decisions. The database was intended to benefit both humans and crocodilians equally, since unmitigated attacks on humans can result in the eradication of the species from these “hotspots”.
Over the years the project grew larger and larger. Compiling crocodilian attacks turned out to be a gargantuan task, particularly when compared to shark attacks. Crocodilians, specifically the saltwater, Nile, and mugger species, kill hundreds of people annually. Sharks, on the other hand, kill very few. Over time my contacts in the field increased and my search methods improved and eventually I was actually conducting research in-person in Belize, Indonesia, and Mexico. In December of 2013 a website called CrocBITE was launched by a company which would act as a host for the database. This website eventually became quite popular, providing the bulk of the data used in numerous studies detailing human-crocodilian conflict worldwide.
In 2022, the CrocBITE website went offline due to issues with the host. I have, however, continued to maintain the database offline and it continues to grow in size, with more than 8300 records as of this writing, most of them from the past decade. A new website, which will be called CrocAttack, is set to launch early this year. The project has already had a significant impact on research into the locations, trends, circumstances, and potential causes of human-crocodilian conflict and is likely to have an even greater impact in the future.
Brandon, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Brandon Sideleau and I grew up in suburb around an hour outside of Los Angeles, California. I became fascinated with crocodilians during my childhood. This fascination seemed a natural progression from being obsessed with dinosaurs, since (to my childhood mind) crocodilians most closely resembled dinosaurs (though we now know that birds actually ARE dinosaurs). Once I graduated from high school I pursued a career in wildlife photography, which eventually brought me to northern Australia. There I fell in love with crocodilians all over again and wondered if there was more I could be doing to further research and conservation. I decided to go back to college and obtain my bachelor’s degree in biology, followed by several lead author publications and eventually acceptance into a PhD program at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia. My travels (some for research, some for photography) have taken me all over the world- Australia, Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste. I am currently living in Darwin and researching human-saltwater crocodile conflict in Papua New Guinea for my PhD.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Human-crocodilian conflict (HCC) is one of the greatest threats facing many of the larger crocodilian species, particularly the “big three” as I call them, the three species that are responsible for the most attacks on humans. These are the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), saltwater crocodile (C. porosus), and mugger crocodile (C. palustris). Combined with habitat destruction, which is one of the major factors fueling HCC, frequent attacks on humans could result in further extinction of these species from some of their range-states. The saltwater crocodile, for example, while listed as Least Concern globally by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, is in serious danger of extirpation from mainland Asia. The only two large populations remaining on the Asian mainland are found in Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha, India and in the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in Ayeyarwady, Myanmar. The species is extinct in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as most of Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar. HCC is a major issue in these remaining two areas containing large populations, particularly Bhitarkanika National Park, which experienced at least 8 deaths in 2023 alone. Both locations are also under immense pressure from the surrounding human populations. I feel that part of my responsibility is to try to prevent a further reduction in this amazing species’ range, while also saving human lives. It is a difficult balance to achieve, but it is possible.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
While the superficial story of my journey as a human-crocodilian conflict “specialist” seems rather straightforward, I had to deal with numerous setbacks along the way. These included everything from health scares that still haunt me, to former trusted colleague that turned out to be a monstrous criminal of the worst kind. These incidents made me wonder if I could continue on this path, but I always persevered. My health scare made me fearful of the future and if I would even be able to work in the field like I wanted to, while finding out the horrific truth about a colleague made me seriously question everyone around me and made me wonder if I could ever trust anyone ever again. The most important thing for me was to just keep going- keep grinding away against the grain, regardless of the obstacle. This has worked well for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.sideleau
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandon_sideleau_croc_attack
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.sideleau
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-sideleau-385916228/
Image Credits
Potenzo Lopes (first photo, with the crocodile skull); Rest, photographer unknown