A 10-foot saltwater crocodile attacked a hunter in the Australian Outback and clamped its jaws around his leg, releasing him only after the man's aunt punched the reptile in the snout, according to a report Monday.

The victim, 19-year-old Manuel Pascoe, was returning from hunting geese Saturday night when the crocodile, possibly attracted by blood from the dead birds, lunged from a creek and tried to drag the man into the water, The Northern Territory News reported.

Other members of the hunting party grabbed Pascoe, but the powerful reptile did not let go until the man's aunt, Margaret Rinybuma, punched it in the snout.

"I hit him with my fist on the nose and I yelled out 'Help! In the name of Jesus!' and it let him go," Rinybuma told the newspaper.

Pascoe suffered muscle damage to his left leg and was hospitalized in stable condition.

The attack occurred along a creek near the Blyth River, about 250 miles east of the Northern Territory capital of Darwin.

Saltwater crocodiles are the world's largest type of crocodile, with some of the reptiles growing to be longer than 20 feet.

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