Crocodile rescued from Aarey; second case in 9 days

A three-foot female sub-adult crocodile weighing 2.72 kg was rescued from an artificial pond near Royal Palms in Aarey Colony.

A three-foot female sub-adult crocodile weighing 2.72 kg was rescued from an artificial pond near Royal Palms in Aarey Colony, Goregaon on Wednesday. On June 15, a one-foot juvenile marsh crocodile weighing 700 grams was rescued from the same spot, making this the second rescue within a span of nine days. Marsh crocodiles are protected under schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

The three-foot female sub-adult crocodile has been kept under observation at Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals .

The wildlife rescue team, NGO Wildlife Welfare Association (WWA), said the area was an abandoned construction site near one of the bungalows at Royal Palms where an excavated area was converted into a 10 to 12-foot-deep artificial pond.

“We set up a trap on Tuesday night by placing fishing nets by dividing the pond into three sections. On Wednesday, as the crocodile moved closer to the surface of the pond, it got trapped,” said Aditya Patil, president, WWA. “The reptile was safely rescued using a grasper net and was found healthy after a medical check-up.”

Forest officials said both the crocodiles were kept under observation at Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TSPCA). “They will be released in the wild soon,” said Jitendra Ramgaonkar, deputy conservator of forest, Thane.

WWA members said this may be a case of pet trade wherein hatchlings were picked up from nearby crocodile habitats and kept in isolated areas to be illegally sold. “This unethical relocation has been spotted across parts of Mumbai and Thane over the years where crocs have been seized. Better monitoring of source habitats such as Vihar, Tulsi, and Powai lakes is needed,” said Patil.

Ramgaonkar, however, said the department has not come to any conclusions yet. Range forest officer (Mumbai) Santosh Kank said, “We are investigating whether these reptiles are using pipelines to move or are naturally pushed to such areas as lakes swell during monsoon. However, relocation by humans is ruled out.”

Herpetologist Kedar Bhide had a similar view. “Our work in Savitri river, Mahad (Raigad) has shown crocodile dispersal as far as 3km to isolated ponds. So this is possible from Vihar or Tulsi lakes to Aarey. There are less chances of them being relocated by people,” he said.