Due to very heavy rains between August 27 and August 29 in Vadodara city of Gujarat, the water level of Vishwamitri river rose and a total of 24 crocodiles were washed away with the flood water and reached residential areas. A forest department official said on Sunday that all these crocodiles have been rescued.
According to Vadodara Range forest officer Karansingh Rajput, around 440 crocodiles live in the Vishwamitri river, many of which get washed away into residential areas during floods caused by release of water from the Ajwa dam.
Rajput said that during these three days, apart from 24 crocodiles, we also rescued 75 other animals, including snakes, cobras, five large turtles weighing about 40 kg and a porcupine. There are many residential areas near the Vishwamitri river.
He said that the smallest crocodile we rescued is two feet long, while the largest crocodile is 14 feet long. It was caught on Thursday from Kamnath Nagar on the river bank. Local residents informed us about it. Apart from these, two other crocodiles of 11 feet length were rescued on Thursday from an open area near EME Circle and the Biology Department of MS (Manonmaniam Sundaranar) University.
Rajput said that no case of human-crocodile conflict was reported during these three days of very heavy rains. He said that crocodiles usually do not attack humans. They survive by eating fish and animal remains in the river. They can also kill and eat dogs, pigs and other small animals. A video of such an incident went viral recently.
Rajput said that since the water level in Vishwamitri river has gone down considerably, the rescued crocodile and other animals will be released in it soon.