THE BEAST tears the net thrice and pounces out of the trap, snapping here and there with instinctive ferocity… the battle goes on for quite some time. Finally, the mind prevails over the six-feet muscle and the deadly croc is caught. But, it made its catchers exclaim ‘Uh!’
However, the catch made the forest department wriggle out of the controversy that it belonged to the Kukrail Breeding Centre. They said, “This crocodile doesn’t belong to us. It doesn’t match our batch. It’s wild. We have weighed the beast out.” The croc was captured from a nullah at Swarna Jayanti Park near the Ring Road Indira Nagar on Sunday.
Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Renu Singh, talking to the media claimed that no crocodile had disappeared from the centre. The claim, she said, was based on the head count after the rumours. Presently there are 14 crocodiles at the breeding centre. And the average age of the crocodile was 15 years with weight ranging between 115 Kgs and 150 Kgs.
The ‘catch’ was a young with six to seven year-old. And even the weight was not over 38 kgs despite the fact that it had adult length, forest officials said.
The theory propagated over the new ‘catch’ by the forest department was that the reptile had strayed into the territory from nearby, or may be it is the result of separation of an egg from the rest due to flow of river water.
The ‘catch’ was a young with six to seven year-old. And even the weight was not over 38 kgs despite the fact that it had adult length, forest officials said.
The theory propagated over the new ‘catch’ by the forest department was that the reptile had strayed into the territory from nearby, or may be it is the result of separation of an egg from the rest due to flow of river water.
Eyewitnesses said the crocodile was spotted early in the morning, but the forest department reacted late. The crocodile was captured after relentless efforts. The department had roped in the experts from the nearby villages to capture the deadly reptile. Eyewitnesses claimed the reptile was ferocious and had escaped thrice ripping the net. Finally, it was captured in the fourth attempt in the net.
It may be mentioned that the rumours of crocodile disappearing from Kukrail have been making rounds for the last four to five days. As a result people, who often frequent the nullah are keeping away from it for fear. Even in the past there have been instances of reptiles escaping from the breeding centre and getting caught in the densely human populated areas in the city.