Written by: Express News Service
2 min readAhmedabadApr 16, 2010 01:35 AM IST
First published on: Apr 16, 2010 at 01:35 AM IST
In a first in the history of Indian air cargo,an endangered female Tomistoma crocodile is going to be transported from Ahmedabad to Chennai on an Air India passenger aircraft.
The crocodile will be taken in a passenger flight coming from Kuwait and shall reach Chennai from Ahmedabad via Hyderabad. It shall be carried in a 118-inch wooden box,with 32 inch width and 18 inch height.
“The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT),which is engaged in crocodile conservation,had requested the national airline for assistance in transporting the female crocodile to pair with its only male crocodile in India “Psycho” in Chennai,” said a press note.
“This is the first time a crocodile would be taken out in this fashion. Air India which has taken many pioneering steps in the past is at it yet again. This is another feather on our cap,” said R Harihar,Western Air India chief while addressing the media persons.
Soham Mukherjee of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust said the Tomistoma is in the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). “Their number has dropped below 2,700. There is so much talk about the tigers but nobody talks about these crocodiles,” he said.
This transaction is a result of talks between Gujarat and Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. “After siblings are born,which we are expecting in the very next season,we shall bring half of them to Ahmedabad,” said R K Sahu,the superintendent of the Kankaria zoo.
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