Mumbai’s private zoo temporarily shut amid ongoing probe

Speaking to The Indian Express, range forest officer, Mumbai, Rakesh Bhoir said, “We are currently probing the issue. Meanwhile, we have filed an FIR against an ‘unknown person’ for being in possession of a crocodile and releasing it near the zoo.”

This is the fourth time an animal has been rescued from the Dadar pool fuelling BMC suspicion that the proximity of the privately owned zoo, where exotic reptiles and fish have been kept in standard cages, has led to the appearance of animals in the pool. In the past six months, the staff has spotted and rescued four animals — snakes, python and now a hatchling (baby crocodile) — from the pool.

With the police and forest departments conducting inquiries, the privately run zoo has shut its gates for visitors until Friday.

“The zoo has been currently shut until Friday as the police and other departments have been conducting their enquiry. In a bid to avoid hassles for our visitors, we have temporarily shut the zoo. We will resume entry for our visitors starting on Saturday,” one of the staffers working within the zoo premises told Express on Thursday.

In the wee hours of Tuesday, pool staffers discovered a two-feet-long baby crocodile while carrying out their daily inspection of the premises. While the hatchling was safely rescued using a net and handed over to the forest department, one of rescuers was bit by the baby croc. Sandeep Vaishampayan, coordinator for civic pools said that the condition of the victim is now stable.

Meanwhile, a CCTV footage procured from the premises of the civic run pool revealed the hatchling (baby crocodile) slowly slithering and making its way towards the civic run pool between 2 am and 2.30 am on Tuesday.