Lorry with zoo animals overturns, two gharials escape, caught later in Telangana

HYDERABAD: A lorry transporting eight gharials and two white tigers among other species overturned near Mondigutta village in Nirmal district on Wednesday afternoon.
Two of the gharials managed to escape from the damaged vehicle briefly, but were caught with the help of the local police and brought back to the vehicle.
Despite the accident, all the animals were safe and accounted for.
Local police and forest officers told TOI that the animals were being transported from Patna’s Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park to Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Biological Park when the lorry lost control and crashed into cement pillars of a flyover on NH-44.
Initially, there was some panic among the foresters given that gharials are listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Found mostly in India and Nepal now, the estimated population of the species globally is roughly 800.
Police officers have filed a case of rash and negligent act leading to the accident against the driver Abdul Mannan Mandal, 51, a resident of Gopal Nagar in West Bengal.
Nirmal SP Janaki Sharmila, who oversaw the operation, told TOI, “After the crocodiles escaped, our team quickly captured them without any incident. The other six crocodiles and two white tigers remained secured in the vehicle.
No wild animal injured in accident, says wildlife official
Forest officials, working alongside local police, secured the area to prevent further risks.
Forest officials checked all permissions for transporting the animals after the accident. The wild animals were being transported as part of the inter-zoo transfer of white tigers and crocodiles.
A Telangana wildlife wing official said, “No wild animal was injured in the accident. The gharials, which have a long snout, were safely transported. The white tigers remained safe in their cages. By Thursday, the animals were loaded into another lorry and taken to Bengaluru.”