Five crocodiles crawl in pvt farmhouse, released into nearby creek

Mumbai: Acting on an alert from the owner of a 12-acre island in the Savitri river at Mahad in Raigad, the Organisation for Wild Life Studies (OWLS) rescued five crocodiles from a farm pond located on it and released them into a nearby creek.

Unlike many who contact non-governmental organisations and authorities to remove wildlife creatures from their farmhouses, the owner asked the volunteers to release the crocodiles in the nearby creek. He also requested that two crocodile nests found in the pond not be destroyed.  The owner, who wants his identity to be anonymous, has now started to fence his property to ensure his staff’s safety.

The first crocodile was seen on May 13 when the owner of the island contacted the volunteers of OWLS, after which a team of three reached the spot the next day, May 14. However, the volunteers figured out that there were two crocodiles, not one, and decided to dewater the pond and rescue the crocodiles. However, during this process that consumed the entire day, the volunteers located four instead of two crocodiles. The largest crocodile was around 8 feet 1inch and the smallest crocodile was 4 feet 6 inches.

Following this, an additional team of six volunteers reached the spot and while planning a rescue operation for the next day (May 15), the team spotted a fifth crocodile in it. As a result of this, the rescue operation was carried out using ropes that were hooked in the crocodiles’ jaws. The five crocodiles were then released into the creek.   

It was later discovered that there were two nests of crocodiles on the island.  However, this owner did not want to destroy them and asked that they remain. However, he has restricted movement near the crocodile nests for the safety of his workers on the island. As the crocodiles may swim back near the island from the creek, the owner is in the process of fencing his island.

“Rescuing a crocodile is not an easy task. Though crocodiles are not aggressive in nature, their jaws are considered to be most powerful in the animal world. Their size and weight too makes a successful rescue difficult,” said Ganesh Mhendale, president of OWLS.