{"id":89783,"date":"2026-09-07T04:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T04:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/89783\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T04:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T04:06:12","slug":"true-blue-aussie-wa-camel-and-crocodile-wrangler-goes-viral-after-new-video-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/89783\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018True blue Aussie\u2019: WA camel and crocodile wrangler goes viral after new video interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Irwin, move aside \u2014 the internet has crowned a WA man Australia\u2019s newest Wildlife Warrior after a viral interview.<\/p>\n

Luke \u2018Camel\u2019 Campbell may have first gained recognition as a star wrangler at Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park in Broome, but a new viral video has introduced the West Aussie\u2019s incredible tales and larrikin attitude to thousands around the world.<\/p>\n

Perth comedian and content creator Jasky Singh, better known as \u201cMr Sikkant\u201d, shared an interview with the Kimberley man on Saturday which quickly blew up across social media \u2014 racking up more than 721,000 views in less than 48 hours.<\/p>\n

In the viral clip, the camel wrangler of three decades reveals how he first entered the wild world of Australian animals \u2014 with the answer leaving many viewers speechless.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a dare, mate \u2014 I saw the job advertised in Fremantle on Centrelink under \u2018miscellaneous\u2019,\u201d the Broome camel wrangler said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked the bloke in the camel farm, \u2018You got a job mate? I do camels\u2019 and he said \u2018You got a swag?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI said yep, and next thing we\u2019re out bush for four months catching wild camels in the desert.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Campbell said he has travelled more than 20,000km on foot since beginning his career, much of it trekking across the Tanami Desert in Australia\u2019s north.<\/p>\n

The road to becoming a camel king was far from easy for the Victorian-born man, with decades working with the animals leaving him with broken bones and scars galore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a couple of fractured necks, I\u2019ve still got three broken fingers, I\u2019ve got a snapped cheekbone, a compressed eye socket,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know I had the fractured neck for about a week until someone saw me walking strange in town, so I was sent to Perth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re out bush, you can\u2019t just call time out and come to town \u2014 you just gotta throw a Besser block on your toe to balance out the pain and keep moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LukeCamera IconLuke Campbell pictured in the red dirt with two of his camels. Credit: Luke Campbell\/Luke Campbell<\/p>\n

Despite his long list of camel wounds, Mr Campbell said his worst injury came from a different critter altogether.<\/p>\n

After decades working with camels in the State\u2019s north, a chance encounter with legendary crocodile hunter Malcolm Douglas would see Mr Campbell learn the art of croc wrangling.<\/p>\n

Douglas was a beloved conservation figure known for his wildlife films and the self-named crocodile park in Broome, which opened to the WA public in 1983.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like things with big teeth and bad attitude,\u201d Mr Campbell joked about his first encounter with Douglas and crocodiles in a second video with Singh.<\/p>\n

He said his transition from camels to crocs came as a complete shock, after the park\u2019s then crocodile wrangler unexpectedly left.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember thinking \u2018when I grow up, I want to be like you, mate\u2019 \u2014 so it was a wild crash course with old Malcolm, it was definitely sink or swim with the old crocodiles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took me in a pen, it\u2019s in one of the big lakes full of crocodiles and I remember four crocodiles came at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was Malcolm, he had one crocodile egg in his hand and a stick and I just thought \u2018I\u2019m out of here mate, I\u2019m over the fence\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the fence I climbed had a big jump and a croc right behind it so I couldn\u2019t (finish) … Malcolm\u2019s yelling out \u2018No!\u2019 and as he yelled out he crushed the egg and the yolk went up in the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cOl\u2019 Mac turned around with his stick and he just gave hell to those four crocodiles and they all took off … I was just so inspired when I saw that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience changed Mr Campbell\u2019s life, with the WA man going on to work at the Broome park and run crocodile experiences.<\/p>\n

\"MalcolmCamera IconMalcolm Douglas and Luke \u2018Camel\u2019 Campbell pictured after meeting in the Great Sandy Desert, which Campbell was crossing with three camels. Credit: @thekimberley\/Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, when you\u2019re looking face to face with a crocodile, everything else disappears,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like you\u2019re working with a human, an animal like a camel, you\u2019re face to face dealing with a real dinosaur and there\u2019s such a focus in that moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually, they\u2019re a very calm animal but the minute they switch, that\u2019s when you\u2019ve got to be on your game mate.\u201d<\/p>\n

One crocodile\u2019s switch-up almost cost the WA wrangler his life, with Mr Campbell recounting the horrific injury one of the reptiles inflicted on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a tiny little mesh cage being used as a hand shield while doing egg collection and this big male\u2019s come up, grabbed the cage, and landed on top of me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe teeth are exploded, I end up with croc teeth in my eyeball. Eventually, I got out of the situation alive, was taken to the hospital, and I am the only one in history to have croc teeth in their eyeballs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MrCamera IconMr Campbell revealed in the video the moment he ended up with croc teeth in his eyeballs. Pictured: The entrance to the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park, where Campbell worked. Credit: Sam Jeremic\/Sam Jeremic<\/p>\n

The wrangler\u2019s wild tales from decades in the Outback immediately resonated with viewers, who flooded the viral video\u2019s comments with praise for the skilled West Aussie.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve Irwin would be proud of this one,\u201d one Aussie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis dude deserves his own movie,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCall him the Camel-odile Dundee!\u201d a third commenter quipped.<\/p>\n

Another thrilled viewer said he had \u201cmore great stories than most people would have in two lifetimes\u201d, while another declared him \u201cthe most Aussie bloke ever\u201d.<\/p>\n

But while thousands of viewers were captivated by Mr Campbell\u2019s wild tales, he stressed most Australians only had a fantasy view of what wildlife wrangling really entailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing about it is that a lot of people only see the fantasy side of it, like imagining walking off into the sunset on your animal \u2014 but the rest of it is hell,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s flies, it\u2019s hard work \u2014 I mean, you\u2019re walking when we come across the Tanami desert, we\u2019re in drought for 10 years, so we\u2019re walking up to 75km a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re leaving at midnight and going through until you had enough shade on a termite mound while you just sit there, and then of course get covered in ants, and that was your paradise for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the tough conditions, there is nowhere else Mr Campbell would rather spend his working years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just so fulfilling, you don\u2019t need to add any extras into your life. The work\u2019s so full and so pure, like I read a lot of old history books, mate, they lived it hard in the Outback and you know what, they were happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Campbell continues to showcase his animal skills at Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park, where he runs afternoon crocodile feeding tours, as well as near Cable Beach where he offers camel rides.<\/p>\n

The Kimberley worker has also set up a YouTube channel where he shares his experiences working with camels and crocodiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Irwin, move aside \u2014 the internet has crowned a WA man Australia\u2019s newest Wildlife Warrior after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2005,152,335,464],"class_list":["post-89783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-perth","tag-animals","tag-news","tag-perth","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}