Crocodile strays into banana farm, captured

Trichy: Forest department personnel captured a crocodile that had wandered into a banana plantation near Pettavaithalai in Trichy district on Wednesday. Officials suspect that the reptile entered the human settlement via the Uyyakondan canal.On Wednesday morning, Trichy forest range received information about a crocodile crawling in an irrigation channel passing through a banana farm.A seven-member team led by range officer V P Subramaniam went to the farm and confirmed the reptile's presence. They caught the crocodile using nets and snares. After restraining it, they bound its snout and limbs and tied it to wooden poles as per their standard operating procedures.Speaking to TOI, ranger Subramaniam said, "The crocodile, while looking for prey, might have swum from its habitat in the Kollidam river through the Uyyakondan canal and then into the farm's irrigation channel. There were no injuries caused to people."The crocodile was around three years old, measured around seven feet and weighed around 50kg. Crocodiles are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.The crocodile was taken to the Kollidam river near Mukkombu, and released into the water.