THE TELEGRAPH (Calcutta, India) 15 July 08 Gharial found in Bengal - Officials in Betla play cupid as fugitive from Tata zoo caught (Kumud Jenamani)
Jamshedpur: Another missing gharial of Tata Steel Zoological Park was located in the Subernarekha in Kharagpur this morning.
This is the second gharial to be caught after three of the reptiles escaped from Tata zoo during the June 18 flood. One crocodile was also missing.
Residents rescued it with help from forest department officials.
A.T. Mishra, the Dhalbhum divisional forest officer, said that the reptile was located along the river near Jhargram by local villagers. “I was intimated by forest officials in Kharagpur. A team of Tata Steel zoo and divisional forest officials from Dhalbhum would jointly go to the place tomorrow to identify and bring the reptile back to the zoo,” he said.
Even though the endangered Gangetic gharial was ultimately traced, it would be a Herculean task for the zoo authority and the divisional forest office to claim the reptile back. “It would require clearance by the Bengal wildlife warden. As the gharial is considered an endangered species, Bengal will give its nod only after getting it identified and proved beyond questionable level that the particular gharial belonged to Tata Steel Zoological Park only and had swam down to Kharagpur in a recent flood,” said a senior forest official.
M.S. Jain, the Tata Steel Zoological Park director, said Mishra had informed about the location of the gharial.
“All the gharials appear to be same. It would definitely be a problem for us to identify the reptile,” he said.
Jain, however, added that they would go to Bengal and bring it soon.
Three gharials and one crocodile in the zoo were found missing after a flash flood in the Subernarekha and Kharkai rivers on June 18.
One of the gharials was spotted near Bahragora and brought to the zoo later.
Gharial found in Bengal