Nagpur: A 20-year-old female crocodile that has been in Maharajbagh Zoo for the past 15 years died on Tuesday afternoon. The crocodile had been brought to Maharajbagh Zoo on August 5, 2009, by Peoples for Animals, Wardha. A pair of male and female crocodiles were kept in a cage. The crocodile is said to have died on Tuesday due to respiratory and cardiac problems.
One of the zoo keepers on Tuesday morning noticed the sluggish movement of the reptile inside its enclosure. He immediately informed the in-charge of the zoo and other senior staff. After noticing the movement of the crocodile, the senior officials decided to shift the crocodile into the treatment cage but it entered into the pond. After draining out the water of the pond, the team noticed that the reptile died.
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According to Dr Sunil Bawiskar, In-charge, Maharajbagh Zoo, the crocodile was fit and it happened suddenly on Tuesday morning. Animal keepers visit the enclosure regularly for feeding them but on Tuesday morning, they noticed abnormality in its movement.
Veterinary doctors from Government Veterinary College and Forest Department conducted the post-mortem of the carcass and performed the last rites as per the guidelines of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Central Zoo Authority (CZA) on Tuesday.
There are two crocodiles in Maharajbagh Zoo, of which, one died on Tuesday. The crocodile was brought from Wardha way back in 2008-09 after being seized by the Forest Department. Since then it was residing in Maharajbagh Zoo, said the zoo in-charge. “Now, we have to bring one crocodile from another zoo through an animal exchange programme and for this we will send a proposal to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) soon,” said Dr Bawiskar.
Currently, there are 250 animals and birds dwelling in Maharajbagh Zoo. The Zoo management recently received a number of herbivorous animals and birds from Bilaspur Zoo through animal exchange. Around 23 herbivores at the Maharajbagh Zoo drowned in their flooded enclosures in the September 23 floods last year. After that incident, the blackbuck enclosure was empty and to fill the cage, the zoo management got animals from Bilaspur Zoo.
