Forest officers in Petlad range of Anand district were surprised when they actually succeeded in trapping a crocodile in Limbali village about a month ago. It was not the catch, but rather the use of a leopard cage (in the absence of a specialised crocodile cage) — to successfully trap the reptile — that surprised them.

Officers said they had no option but to place a leopard cage to catch the crocodile, which was posing a threat to the villagers. “There was panic in Limbali village after a crocodile was sighted in the local water body. We decided to trap the animal, but realised that we did not have a special cage which was low in height and long enough to accommodate a full-grown crocodile. After analysing the situation we decided to use the leopard cage at our disposal,” said Range Forest Officer (Petlad) Kishorsinh Rana.

The experiment of placing the leopard cage for the crocodile turned out to be a successful attempt. “We had kept bait inside the cage and the crocodile was successfully trapped, but the problem started after that. A leopard cage is bigger and heavier compared to the ones used for crocodiles. It was tough to take the cage near the water body and do the same, once the crocodile was trapped,” he said.

It was only recently during a meeting of the forest officers that the Deputy Conservator of Forest assured them that a special cage for trapping crocodiles will be immediately provided to the Petlad forest department. Rana said: “Later when we narrated this to our senior officers, they readily agreed to our demand for a special cage for crocodile, which we will be getting soon.”