KAKINADA: In a surprise find, a baby crocodile was spotted in River Godavari by a farmer in an islet off the Relligaddalanka area near Katheru village in Rajamahendravaram rural Mandal.
The farmer having a cow farm in the islet went there in the morning and noticed what looked like a monitor lizard or Udumu, which is edible. He managed to draw it into a gunny sack and took it to his village. When he opened the sack, to the surprise of one and all, it was a baby crocodile.
The baby crocodile was swiftly handed over to the Three Town Police Station at Rajamahendravaram and they reached it to the WildLife department.
Three years ago, some tourists sailing along the area videoed two crocodiles in the river and posted the video on social media. Forest department officials denied these were crocodiles and insisted that they had never seen crocodiles in the river.
However, East Godavari district wildlife forest officer C Selvam told Deccan Chronicle that there existed no statics on the population of crocodiles in the river, but the spotting of crocodiles near Papikondalu and Maredumilli rivulets and citations from fishermen and tribals have come as confirmation of their presence in the river.
“The caught crocodile’s age is about two years. It showed weakness and was given treatment. It will be dropped back to the river,” he said.
He said the recent floods may have carried the baby crocodile to the river. No specific zone for crocodiles has been found so far. However, the Zoological Survey of India would do a survey on the number of crocodiles and other species in the river soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, fishermen, farmers and others relying on the river for their livelihood are worried over the presence of crocodiles there. Sand excavation activity is on in the river and many fishermen are mining the sand transporting it with their boats in the river. They were freely moving about in the river without such fears so far. They urged Wild Life officials to reserve a crocodile zone’ and bar their entry into the other areas in the river. Else, there will be serious threat to the lives of both humans and animals venturing into the waters.
Selvam said there is no need for such apprehensions as the fishermen can easily identify such species as they frequently moved about in the river.
