12-foot, 400kg heavy crocodile rescued from Gujarat village

VADODARA: Wildlife volunteers from Vallabh Vidyanagar town of Anand district faced a scary encounter with a mammoth-sized crocodile when they reached lake of Traj village of Kheda district’s Matar taluka on Friday night.
The volunteers had rushed to the village after receiving a call that a crocodile had attacked a 65-year-old resident on Friday, whose body could not be fished out from the lake.
When the rescuers entered the lake in the dark using a traditional fishing boat with battery lights, the crocodile attacked the team twice.
It was after three and a half hours operation that the volunteers caged the female crocodile which was 12-foot-long and over 400 kg in weight.
After receiving a call that a huge sized crocodile had dragged away Laxmansinh Chavda, a 65-year-old resident of Traj’s Darbar Vanta area, 22 volunteers from the Vallabh Vidyanagar had left for Traj.
“Crocodiles are not harmful to humans. But the period between June and August is the time when it lays eggs and is highly protective about its babies. Instead of dedicated bank which is used by villagers of Traj for routine chores, it seems, the deceased man would have reached the centre of the lake. The female crocodile would have attacked him in self defence,” said Rahul Solanki, who led the team of rescuers from Nature Help Foundation.
The rescuers had entered the lake at around 7 pm but they could cage the reptile only at around 10.30 pm. “When we reached the centre of the lake, it charged us twice. But it was an act of self defence,” he said.
The village lake of Traj is known for a healthy breeding population of crocodiles. “An estimated 48 crocodiles have been spotted at Traj. Of these, 12 are big size,” he said, adding that the crocodile which was caged was 40-50 years in age.
“It was a full-size female. It had laid nearly 60 eggs and nearly 40 new baby crocodiles are born. The babies remain around the female crocodile,” he said.
The volunteers added that there was no reason for the crocodile to attack the human except self defence. “It survives on fish and there are plenty in Traj’s lake. Crocodiles usually shy away if they notice humans from a distance of 15-20 foot. But if it fears survival, it charges in self-defence,” he said.
It was early on Saturday morning that Anand fire brigade’s team chased out body of the deceased.