Zoo vehicle in accident, two escaped gharials caught

HYDERABAD: Two gharials (fish-eating crocodiles) being transported to the Bannerghatta biological park in Karnataka had a brief taste of freedom after their vehicle met with an accident and fell on its side in Nirmal district.

The crates in which the animals were kept broke open, giving officials moments of panic. However, both reptiles were recaptured soon after, with help of forest officials from Nirmal, who rushed to the accident site.

“No one was injured in the accident and the driver of the vehicle that went off the road, received some very minor scratches,” a forest department official from Nirmal said.

Even more fortunate, according to the official, was the fact that the vehicle that met with the accident was the one carrying the gharials, and not the second vehicle that was transporting a tiger, and a jungle cat. “Had it been this vehicle and the cage with the tiger broke, then the story would have been very different,” the official said.

Nirmal forest range officer Ramakrishna said as soon as they received information, they rushed to National Highway-44 in Mamidigutta area where the accident occurred. “We took with us two cranes to lift the vehicle and help with the rescue,” he said.

In all, eight gharials, one white tiger and a jungle cat were being transported to Bannerghatta Biological Park from the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna as part of an animal exchange programme, the official said.

The transport vehicles were being followed in a car by a team, led by a veterinarian, and staff from the two zoos who contacted the Telangana forest department for help after the accident.

The gharial is a crocodile with a long narrow mouth and a snout that looks like a pot, after which it got its name.

This fish eating crocodile considered critically endangered, is mostly found in three tributaries of river Ganga – Chambal, and Girwa in India, and in Rapti-Narayani in Nepal – and India has reserves in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for protecting the Gharial, according to the Wildlife Institute of India.

The team transporting the animals continued their journey after an alternate vehicle to carry the crocodiles was arranged for, the official said. The accident occurred as the driver was reportedly fatigued, and lost concentration. He crashed the vehicle into cement bollards by the road after which the vehicle fell on its side next to the road.