A five-metre saltwater crocodile grabbed a lawnmower from a zoo staff mowing the grass in its enclosure at the Australian Reptile Park at Somersby, north of Sydney.

The croc named Elvis was apparently agitated by the noise of the mower and pulled it to its pool on Wednesday morning. Two staffers took more than an hour to recover the machine under water as the animal closely guarded the disabled lawnmower.

''Once he got it, he just sat there and guarded it,'' said park operations manager Tim Faulkner, according to BBC. ''It was his prize, his trophy. If it moved, then he would attack it again.''

Keeper Billy Collett dangled kangaroo meat from one side of Elvis' enclosure to distract it while Faulkner jumped into the pool to retrieve the machine.

The lawnmower was punctured by the crocodile's sharp teeth, but the latter lost two teeth in the incident witnessed by park visitors.
''He has extraordinarily large teeth - much bigger than most crocodiles,'' Faulkner told BBC. ''He punched his teeth through the top casing of the mower.''

Elvis, which is estimated to be 50 years old, is known for being easily agitated. Before it was caught in Darwin harbour, it was attacking fishing boats. It was brought to a farm, where it ate to other female crocodiles, before being transferred to the park.