Exclusive: Matt Wright talks about his Netflix show Wild Croc Territory and educating people about wildlife

Matt Wright is hugely passionate about crocodiles and them being protected and looked after that much is evident in his show on Netflix.

It’s also extremely evident minutes into our chat that he’s passionate about all wildlife.

“I’ve always had a passion for wildlife. Ever since I was a kid. And crocs were just part of the territory where I was living. A lot of people were, you know, they want to move some crocs. They didn’t want to destroy them. But they didn’t have anyone really equipped to go in and catch them. So I said I’ll do it. And it grew from there and I become the guy that moves some of the biggest crocs in the world.”

“It’s wildlife in general around the world. But first and foremost, we’ve got to understand and protect the environment that all these animals live in. And if we don’t have that, or animals got nowhere to live. So there’s one thing protecting and looking after wildlife but they need somewhere to live.”

Matt’s show Wild Croc Territory has quickly become one of the most watched shows on Netflix regularly featuring in the top 10 shows to watch.

“This show is showcasing areas in the countryside and the adventure that hasn’t been seen since the days of Crocodile Dundee. Really. It’s all sort of filmed in the same sort of climate countryside and involves having an Australian family banjo, a three-year-old and Kaia and my wife, getting in on the action and throwing Kaia into the deep end, sometimes catching some of these massive crocodiles with me unexpectedly on her behalf. But sort of maybe a little bit set up on my back but just I guess, you know, lifestyle adventurous, documentary show that is new and it’s fresh and it will appear appeal to a lot of families around the world.”

Wild Croc Territory is a real family show not just because it includes Matt’s family but it’s one that the whole family can enjoy and learn from.

“Kaia and I have been together for seven or so years. married for five of them. And it definitely hasn’t been you know, passion to come out and catch crocodiles with me but she does love getting out in the ocean and hanging out. So she’s seen me catch many crocs and lend a hand from time to time. But yes, it’s definitely not a day job.

“But getting in there and I think when we did start doing this and the first crocodile we caught and it was just her and it catches crocodile. She you know, she really got no she really felt and understood and I’d really sort of tried to explain how we’re going to do this process and it sort of made me realise I take a lot of things for granted that I don’t explain my what myself to my own team all the time that that great.”

“So Kaia really sort of brought that out in me and say, Alright, well explain to me what are we gonna do and we pull this thing out of the water or how are we going to get the head rope on explain it to me so it was really good and she trusted me and she listened well and did everything that needs to be done to it. And she came out of it really enjoying it like she was tired but loved it. “

Filming Wild Croc Territory is quite a long process for Matt and his family especially as they have to balance numerous businesses too.

“We’ve got a lot of things running at any one time and we’ve run into 12 businesses and the filming side of things. Definitely, we had to work around it. of all, we always go out and catch crocs and move them. But it’s a pretty quick operation. When you’ve got to film you have you know you’ve got your crew, you’ve got everyone you got to slow everything down. You got to get things set and make more of a story out of it than just whip it in there. Grab a croc move him and go to the next one. So yeah, it was definitely challenging in that sort of sense.”

“We started filming in August last year, I think maybe about August, or July last year. And we finished filming in January this year. And then which was great. And it was I think it was actually meant to be on Netflix a few months early but for some reason they’ll push forward which is just fine. But yeah, it’s a good six, eight months of filming. And a lot of that depends on the weather and the season and the jobs that we were trying to fit in at the time.”

While filming might take a while, another season of Wild Croc Territory is in the works as Matt believes on passing on his knowledge about crocs and wildlife is important and the show can help him to do that.

“For me [catching crocs] is instinct with trial and error. Working out crocodile movements, and habitat, habits. And once you sort of add in seasonal, changes that have a big, big part to play in understanding that. Yeah, it’s just time really inexperienced. And I’ve had 20-odd years of experience catching these things. Catching crocs, it was sort of second nature now and sort of trying to pass it on to the team, to my crew and to the kids growing up.”

“It’s similar to what I was just saying before. About how Kaia was sort of getting me to explain it a lot easier in laymen’s terms, rather than just doing and expecting people to know what they should be doing. That’s all it is. It’s just taking your time and that really just education and there hasn’t really been anyone to be able to show or pass on that knowledge and if I can show and pass on that knowledge to a number of people through my time. Hopefully, that will keep the crocodile safe in years to come.”

It’s not just crocs. It’s wildlife in general around the world. But first and foremost, we’ve got to understand and protect the environment that all these animals live in. And if we don’t have that, or animals got nowhere to live. So there’s one thing protecting and looking after wildlife but they need somewhere to live. we’re on a path of destruction for our own planet, and really just trying to get people to wake up a little bit and understand that we’ve, you know, there’s so much technology in this day and age that we should really be using it as resources to protect the environment, not to consume it.”

You can watch Wild Croc Territory now on Netflix!

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