Whilst 62-year-old, Paul Marshallsea, may be grabbing all the headlines for wrestling a shark, for really fearless animal grappling look no further than three-year-old Charlie Parker.

Many children would settle for playing fetch with a puppy, but Charlie is already an expert reptile wrangler and is laying claim to be Australia's youngest wildlife ranger.

Charlie doesn't just tackle baby alligators called Gump - he's also been known to wrestle a 2.5m boa constrictor named Pablo!

Charlie's father, Greg, is owner of the Ballarat Wildlife Park in Victoria where he "works".

He said: "We didn't go out to encourage it but he just loves reptiles. Like everybody he's frightened of some things . . . others not so much".

Perhaps it is in Charlie's blood. His father points out that he comes from three generations of animal carers and the little "wildlife warrior" grew up around the sanctuary.