A six-foot crocodile, which may have been swept into a construction site pond in Mulund during heavy rain in 2019, was rescued on Sunday, after two months of effort.
The crocodile was first spotted at the construction site pond, which has been shut for six years owing to a legal dispute, in December.
On Sunday, the crocodile walked into a trap cage that Wildlife Welfare Association (WWA) and Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) volunteers had set up at the site near Swapna Nagari, Mulund (West). The rescue mission was carried out by forest department officials, and animal activists from WWA and RAWW after the crocodile was spotted in the cage. It was then taken to Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) for medical examination, said a forest department official. The reptile was tagged and will be released into SGNP.
One of the rescuers said that ever since the crocodile was spotted by locals, forest department officials and WWA and RAWW activists had been trying to rescue it. “Despite multiple strategies, we failed to safely capture the reptile,” the rescuer said.
Aditya Patil, one of the rescuers from WWA, said, “First we planned to pump out water from the pond, but realised it’s not possible. Later, we created a six-foot long tunnel and at the end of it we created small pond. We kept some food for it, expecting it would swim into the smaller pond, but it never happened. Recently, we lowered a cage into the pond and installed cameras near it.”
{{/usCountry}}Aditya Patil, one of the rescuers from WWA, said, “First we planned to pump out water from the pond, but realised it’s not possible. Later, we created a six-foot long tunnel and at the end of it we created small pond. We kept some food for it, expecting it would swim into the smaller pond, but it never happened. Recently, we lowered a cage into the pond and installed cameras near it.”
{{/usCountry}}However, the reptile did not swim into the cage even till two weeks after it was installed.
“On Sunday, as per routine, two of our colleagues went to change the cage position and repair the cameras, when they saw the crocodile was trapped inside it,” Patil said.
The forest department official said, “This area is close to SGNP. We believe that the crocodile might have entered the private property from some nullah or water stream,” he said.