Hyderabad: A mix of curiosity, scare and mirth was evident in a street in Azampura for a while on Sunday as a baby crocodile crawled its way through. The reptile surfaced all of a sudden. It came out of a nala and was cautiously moving along the roadside, pausing and watching the commotion around.
It was a rare sight, and children were all too scared, some boys were enthused, and some among them even tried to confront it. However, no harm was caused and the reptile was gently caught and safely reached to the Nehru Zoo, where it got a watery treat and safe haven.
Croc must have come for food: Experts
G. Sataiah, inspector of police, Chaderghat, said, “Some locals passing by noticed the crocodile’s movement. People gathered around and caught it. We informed the zoo officials and they took possession of it.”
The first person who noticed the crocodile's foray into city life was M. Prabhakar,a GHMC contractor. Nehru Zoo curator Shivani Dogra said, “The baby crocodile is under our observation. How it crawled into the nala is not clear.”
Veterinary doctor Md. Asadullah at zoological park said the age of reptile could be around 1.5 to 2 years. A male reptile, its length was nearly 2 feet. “The mother croc might have laid the eggs around the banks of Musi as the river is too long. In most cases, female crocs lay eggs near the shores of a river after digging a pit of 2 to 3 feet in the ground.”
“In this case also, a similar breeding might have happened and there are also chances that there are more crocs in Musi and the other eggs laid by them were either destroyed or hatched. A thorough investigation could be done done by forest officials,” he said.
“However the mystery remains as to how the baby croc crawled into the nala and from there to the road. We assume it came in search of food and water. It can survive without food or water for days. These are sturdy ones and can go into hibernation for days,” noted the vet.
Forest officials had in July 2016 rescued an 8.5-feet mugger crocodile which had settled down close to a water pipeline near the Hyderabad water board office near the Manjeera wildlife sanctuary, that’s home to nearly 500 crocodiles.
