Australian conservationist Robert Irwin recently shared how a crocodile named Jimmy Fallon death-rolled him at his conservation. While he lived to tell the tale, Irwin explained that at the time, he was unsure how he could get out of the situation.

Robert Irwin talks about being death-rolled by a crocodile named Jimmy Fallon

During his recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Robert Irwin detailed how he got death-rolled by a crocodile at his family-operated Australia Zoo. Fallon brought up the topic by asking how the animals were doing and mentioning that he remembered Irwin naming a baby crocodile after him.

The DWTS alum added, “You know what, Jimmy? He’s not a baby anymore.” He continued, “I named this crocodile Jimmy Fallon years ago, and he’s now what we call a boss croc. He’s huge.” The host jokingly tucked in his tummy and said, “He’s not too big; he’s normal size. I mean, as you get older, you start to put some pounds on.”

“I’ll tell you what I did,” the 22-year-old said. He explained that his management conducts research on wild crocodiles to improve conservation. “The way you do that — my dad came up with this — is you actually have to jump on them,” Irwin continued. “So, I jumped on the back of Jimmy Fallon. The little…. He death-rolled me. I jumped on him — I kid you not — a 14-foot crocodile, big croc, death-rolls me.”

Irwin went on to explain how he felt stuck under the 700-pound reptile with his “arm hanging out.” He admitted to being clueless about what he could do to get out of the situation. “Luckily, he rolled back the other way, and I was fine,” he said. “He’s a goer, Jimmy. He’s a goer.”

Currently, the Irwin family owns and manages Australia Zoo, in Beerwah, Queensland, Australia. While the park is open to the public, hosting hundreds of different animal species, it also serves as a wildlife conservation site.