India: Relocation of 1,000 crocodiles raises questions

• A breeding centre for crocodiles in India is in the process of moving 1,000 crocodiles to a zoo owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani that is 1,931km (1,200 miles) away.
• Officials at the 8.5-acre breeding centre said that the crocodiles were being moved because they were getting into fights in their old home because it was too crowded.
• Officials at the breeding centre said that the crocodiles will go to Jamnagar in wooden boxes in a vehicle that will keep the temperature constant.

A breeding centre for crocodiles in India is in the process of moving 1,000 crocodiles to a zoo owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani that is 1,931km (1,200 miles) away.

Last year, India’s zoo authority gave the go-ahead for mugger crocodiles to move from Madras Crocodile Bank Trust in the state of Tamil Nadu in the south to Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in the state of Gujarat in the west. So far, about 300 crocodiles have been moved to the state of Gujarat.

Officials at the 8.5-acre breeding centre said that the crocodiles were being moved because they were getting into fights in their old home because it was too crowded.

“Hundreds of crocodile eggs are thrown away every year because there are too many of them at the bank,” says Nikhil Whitaker, the curator of the centre in Chennai city. “The decision to move the crocodiles was made so that they could live in a better place,” he says.

Crocodiles lived in the same villages as the Indians.
The bank has sent its crocodiles to protected areas and zoos all over India over the years. But this is the first time that so many crocodiles have been moved at once.

In its most recent annual report, the 425-acre zoo in Jamnagar, Gujarat, said that the crocodiles “will be given adequate space, food, and care.”

The breeding centre was started in 1976 to protect mostly three types of crocodiles that are native to the area: muggers, saltwater crocodiles, and gharials.

It started out with about 40 crocodiles, and the goal was to keep them safe so they could breed and be released back into the wild to help repopulate their natural habitats.
Mr. Whitaker said that since 1994, crocodiles that were raised in captivity couldn’t be let out into the wild. Since then, the bank has had to settle for moving a few crocodiles to zoos and wildlife sanctuaries every now and then.

Wildlife areas are shrinking, and zoos can only take in a certain number of crocodiles. Officials say they are running out of places to send their extra crocodiles.

Officials at the breeding centre said that the crocodiles will go to Jamnagar in wooden boxes in a vehicle that will keep the temperature constant.

A walking crocodile causes panic in a village in India
Mr. Whitaker said, “Captive crocodiles only need to be fed once a week, so they will be fed before the trip.”

Conservationists aren’t sure if moving the birds will solve the problem of too many birds at the breeding centre. Wildlife biologist P. Kannan said that the problem will still be there because the reptiles will be kept in a closed space in their new home as well.

“There isn’t a way to make crocodiles sterile yet, and keeping male and female crocodiles in separate enclosures for a long time makes them fight,” Mr. Kannan said.

The honorary secretary of the Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association, S Jayachandran, said that India should protect more wildlife areas instead of moving animals.

“Crocodiles wouldn’t have to be moved to a zoo if there was enough room for them in the wild.”

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