Owner wished to let the crocodiles stay on his property, but changed his mind for sake of workers' safety
Five crocodiles were rescued and later released into a creek
Learn cohabitation with the wildlife from this private island owner in Raigad. Five crocodiles were found in his farm pond over a week ago, but instead of panicking, he wished to leave them be.
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A middle ground was struck for the sake of his farm workers and the reptiles were released into a nearby creek.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, owns a 100-acre island in the district. On the island is a 100x100 ft farm pond.
On May 14, a Raigad-based NGO, Organisation for Wild Life Studies (OWLS), received a call that some crocodiles had entered the pond. “Our team of volunteers found five crocodiles in all. We did not want the crocodiles to go into trauma. So, we decided to return the next day with more volunteers and rescue them,” said Ganesh Mahendale, founder-member of OWLS. The following day, over seven volunteers rescued the crocodiles.
Five crocodiles were rescued and later released into a creek
Initially, the island owner kept insisting that he had no problem with the presence of crocodiles in his pond, but later, worried for the safety of his workers, he suggested that the rescue team release them into the Dasgaon creek, around 200 m away.
Since the farm pond had a plastic sheet on the bed, it’s possible that the crocodiles could not go back to the creek and kept slipping on the slippery bed.
The five crocodiles were rescued and later released into a creek
The NGO has asked the island owner to build a wall around the pond to prevent crocodiles from venturing in again.
Crocodile sightings are common in the Dasgaon creek, which is close to Savitri river in Mahad, Raigad. The reptiles rescued were 4.5-8 ft long. The NGO also found some crocodile nests on the bank of the creek.
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