KALNA: A marsh crocodile (mugger) – more than 9ft long – was found roaming a neighbourhood under ward 10 of Kalna Municipality in the wee hours of Tuesday. The incident took place at Nichujapat Pal Para of Kalna in East Burdwan. The forest department managed to capture it after a four-hour operation with the help of cops and local administration.
This is the second incident in the area in two weeks. Earlier, a 10ft marsh crocodile was found roaming an area in Katwa. The forest department had rescued it and released it back in the Bhagirathi.
Roni Pal, a local resident, said: “On Tuesday midnight, some street dogs suddenly started barking, which woke us up. As I opened a window, I saw an elderly woman shouting ‘kumir kumir!’ (crocodile, crocodile). When I came out of my house, I found the crocodile at my door. Soon, a large number of people gathered in the area to have a look at it. It soon rushed towards the house of one of my neighbours, Sadananda. We are scared as my house is located only 100 metres from the Bhagirathi.”
Conservationist and herpetologist Anirban Chaudhuri said though there is reason to get surprised seeing a marsh crocodile at the doorstep, unnecessary panic may prove to be disastrous for humans as well as the animal. Crocodiles are known to travel 100 kilometres downstream in search of mates and new territories, he added.
Locals soon informed the Kalna PS, forest department, Kalna Municipality and the fire brigade. Chairman of the municipality, Ananda Dutta, and cops reached the spot to control the crowd to avoid any unwanted incident.
A team of forest department with 20 members reached the spot with a cage, rescue net and vehicle. Later, with the help of villagers, forest staff rescued the 9.5ft male crocodile. Local cops were busy managing the crowd as they were rushing to take the crocodile’s photos and videos. Cops even cordoned off the area with a rope.
DFO, East Burdwan, Nisha Goswami, said “A marsh crocodile was seen at Nichujapat Pal Para near New Forward Club on Tuesday around 3am. Our staff later successfully rescued it around 7am. Cops and the district administration supported us in the operation. The mugger will be released in its natural habitat soon.”
“These crocodiles historically existed in the Hooghly and Brahmaputra river systems and their tributaries. But there has been a rise in these stray cases in the last four to five years. They are probably coming downstream from the northern part of the Ganga/Hooghly channel, may be from UP-Bihar-Jharkhand through Farakka,” said Chaudhuri, adding that degradation of their existing habitats or rise in numbers in pocket habitats somewhere can also be possible triggers.
Subrata Pal Chowdhury, human-wildlife conflict management consultant, said: “Muggers or marsh crocodiles are found in 15 states. These crocodiles are mainly found in different rivers, lakes, ponds and other freshwater habitats. It was once abundantly found in Bengal, but for the last few decades, its sightings had become almost nil. Their largest population can now be found in the middle Ganga river system in Bihar and Jharkhand.”
This is the second incident in the area in two weeks. Earlier, a 10ft marsh crocodile was found roaming an area in Katwa. The forest department had rescued it and released it back in the Bhagirathi.
Roni Pal, a local resident, said: “On Tuesday midnight, some street dogs suddenly started barking, which woke us up. As I opened a window, I saw an elderly woman shouting ‘kumir kumir!’ (crocodile, crocodile). When I came out of my house, I found the crocodile at my door. Soon, a large number of people gathered in the area to have a look at it. It soon rushed towards the house of one of my neighbours, Sadananda. We are scared as my house is located only 100 metres from the Bhagirathi.”
Conservationist and herpetologist Anirban Chaudhuri said though there is reason to get surprised seeing a marsh crocodile at the doorstep, unnecessary panic may prove to be disastrous for humans as well as the animal. Crocodiles are known to travel 100 kilometres downstream in search of mates and new territories, he added.
Locals soon informed the Kalna PS, forest department, Kalna Municipality and the fire brigade. Chairman of the municipality, Ananda Dutta, and cops reached the spot to control the crowd to avoid any unwanted incident.
A team of forest department with 20 members reached the spot with a cage, rescue net and vehicle. Later, with the help of villagers, forest staff rescued the 9.5ft male crocodile. Local cops were busy managing the crowd as they were rushing to take the crocodile’s photos and videos. Cops even cordoned off the area with a rope.
DFO, East Burdwan, Nisha Goswami, said “A marsh crocodile was seen at Nichujapat Pal Para near New Forward Club on Tuesday around 3am. Our staff later successfully rescued it around 7am. Cops and the district administration supported us in the operation. The mugger will be released in its natural habitat soon.”
“These crocodiles historically existed in the Hooghly and Brahmaputra river systems and their tributaries. But there has been a rise in these stray cases in the last four to five years. They are probably coming downstream from the northern part of the Ganga/Hooghly channel, may be from UP-Bihar-Jharkhand through Farakka,” said Chaudhuri, adding that degradation of their existing habitats or rise in numbers in pocket habitats somewhere can also be possible triggers.
Subrata Pal Chowdhury, human-wildlife conflict management consultant, said: “Muggers or marsh crocodiles are found in 15 states. These crocodiles are mainly found in different rivers, lakes, ponds and other freshwater habitats. It was once abundantly found in Bengal, but for the last few decades, its sightings had become almost nil. Their largest population can now be found in the middle Ganga river system in Bihar and Jharkhand.”
