The crocodile, freewheeling in the historic Katraj lake — it had landed there from nowhere in November, last year, will be around till the arrival of the scorching summer as the authorities of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have postponed their plan to catch the reptile as the sweltering heat subsides the lake water to some extent, it would facilitate the catching of this reptile.

“We are further going to wait till the summer arrives. We will wait till the summer heat subsides the lake water to some extent. This will simplify our job of nabbing the reptile.” Talking to The Indian Express, Kazveen Umrigar, director of the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park said.

The Chennai-based Madras Crocodile Bank Trust founded by noted herpetologist Romulus Whitaker, was to send a team to catch the crocodile, is said to have just mailed some information to PMC authorities. “They have just given information on the technique of catching a crocodile.”

Some visitors were left aghast when they first spotted a crocodile on the banks of Katraj lake, located behind the zoo on November 15. Following this, the zoo employees had carried out a casual search for the reptile, followed by the fishermen members, who used to come there for fishing for their livelihood. However, much to the chagrin of the fishermen, the crocodile could not be captured, though was spotted by them a few times. After that, the Chennai trust was going to help the civic authorities in this, however has intimated their inability to catch the reptile.

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