The decades-old Sathanur Crocodile Park, one of the prime tourist attraction spots in Tiruvannamalai district, is posing a threat to the tourists, forest department personnel and zoo keepers due to inadequate safety measures. About 400 Mugger Crocodiles have been kept in poor conditions in a cramped space at the facility. The reptile enclosures lack fencing and appropriate safeguards.
Sources in the forest department said the Crocodile Park was established in 1977 with less than 20 Mugger Crocodiles, also called Marsh Crocodiles, to boost captive breeding, in order to protect it from becoming extinct.
“Indian crocodiles were an endangered species in the 1970s due to indiscriminate poaching. The Central government banned poaching of the species in the late 1970s and established crocodile parks in several parts of the country to preserve and breed Marsh, Saltwater and Gharial Crocodiles in captivity,” said a forest department official.
The Sathanur park lacks scientifically erected enclosures, which ensure the safety of the tourists and sufficient space for the reptiles. There are four big enclosures, each measuring about 20 m x 20 m, and 26 small enclosures, each measuring 10 m x 10 m. “An average of 25 to 30 crocodiles are let into the big enclosures, while about 15 reptiles are let out into the smaller enclosures. The animals fight for food when they are fed,” said the official.
