Volunteers of RESQ and police searching on Mutha river near Deccan as someone allegedly sited a crocodile on Friday. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
Teams from Forest Department, police and animal rescue volunteers launched a search in Mutha riverbed after receiving a call about sighting of a crocodile near Z-bridge in Deccan Gymkhana area in the heart of Pune city.
Senior inspector Murlidhar Karpe of Deccan Gymkhana police station said, “A call was received by ResQ Foundation NGO about sighting of a crocodile in Mutha riverbed near Z Bridge. Teams from forest department, the animal rescue volunteers and our teams were deployed for the search. Till now, there are no signs of a crocodile.”
Pune forest department has recently formed Rapid Response Teams for cases of wild animal sightings in the city and surrounding areas, after two incidents of Gaurs venturing into Pune city limits. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
Pune forest department has recently formed Rapid Response Teams for cases of wild animal sightings in the city and surrounding areas, after two incidents of Gaurs venturing into Pune city limits.
On December 9 and 22 last year, gaurs were sighted in the Kothrud and Sutarwadi areas respectively, after having ventured into urban limits from adjacent forest areas. The four-year-old male Gaur, which had ventured into a residential locality in Pune’s Kothrud area and faced an unruly crowd on December 9, died due to suspected exhaustion after its capture by the forest department.
Another Gaur was spotted in Sutarwadi area along the bypass road of the Mumbai-Bangalore highway on the morning of December 22. The following evening, forest department teams succeeded in driving the animal back into the adjacent forest area with what they termed as ‘least possible intervention.’