he travelled to italy, australia, america, papua new guinea, zambia and zimbabwe advising on crocodile conservation and farming. several films were made about his work, including "the ndumu story", and the bbc's award-winning "gently smiling jaws", narrated by sir david attenborough. pooley set up two crocodile research facilities, one at ndumo game reserve, and the st lucia crocodile research centre, where he also set about educating visitors about crocodiles and their place in the ecosystem. he earned his msc degree, on the "ecology of the nile crocodile in zululand", from the university of natal in 1982, despite never having completed high school.