Crocodile released into Chambal after village stint

Forest officials on Friday captured a crocodile from a pond , a week after the reptile had drifted into a village near Agra causing panic among the locals.

The nearly four-year-old Mugger crocodile was caught using a trap cage and later released into the Chambal. The river has a large breeding population of mugger crocodiles and gharials, as part of the State’s conservation project.

The crocodile was sighted in the Amar Singh ka Pura village in Pinahat area, a few kms away from the Chambal River. The locals alerted the forest department, which along with Wildlife SOS, an NGO that rescues and rehabilitates wildlife animals in distress, carried out the operation.

Since it was difficult to spot the crocodile in the muddled waters , , the officials initially decided to empty the pond but set up a trap cage on the banks of the pond on May 16.

“”The crocodile eventually emerged on Friday and was lured into the trap cage’’ said Wildlife SOS.

Baiju Raj M.V, director conservation projects, Wildlife SOS said the trap cage with bait was set up as they “wanted to avoid capturing the reptile by force and causing it any harm.’’ The crocodile was a juvenile and was approximately six years old, he added.

No harm

Ashok Sharma, range forest officer (Pinahat), told The Hindu that though the crocodile stayed in the village pond for over a week and was regularly sighted, it did not attack any human. “We, however, did receive complaints from the people of the Valmiki community who live close to the pond that the crocodile took away their ducks and hens,’’ said Mr. Sharma.

The officer said he could not yet explain how the crocodile reached the village pond as the Chambal River, its natural habitat, was more than 3 kms away.

Meanwhile, officials had set up another trap in the area after locals claimed that a second crocodile was sighted.

Vulnerable species

The Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), also called the Indian or marsh crocodile, was listed ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Reed List and was protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

Kartick Satyanarayan, CEO of Wildlife SOS said, “Crocodiles are met with fear and hostility leading to incidents of human conflict with this species.”

Source : https://www.farandwide.com/s/forbidden-destinations-398b80e7688c4c77?utm_campaign=forbiddendestinations-befb9e129a90430b&utm_source=tab&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=indiatoday-indiatoday