Curious kids and crocodiles

IT WAS a different experience for Mr. Romulus Whitaker, Chennai's herpetologist, the other day. Instead of his routine reptile- handling work, he had to field a volley of questions from children and their parents.

The occasion was the release of `Croc Talk: your Madras Crocodile Bank companion' at Goodbooks, Book Store and Resource Centre.

In the early 70s, the results of a survey on the surviving crocodile population set alarm bells ringing - that all the three species of crocs in the country were facing the threat of extinction. On one side the poachers were culling the reptiles for their leather and on the other, developmental activities, such as construction of dams, led to habitat shrinking. This led to the formation of the Crocodile Bank, Mr. Whitaker said.

Jaws III, one of the world's last giant crocodiles, is now a proud possession of the Bank. When he explained about this particular specimen, a child-participant asked, ``Is Jaws vicious?''

The 16-ft reptile, weighing about half a tonne, is a `big puppy', and not vicious, he was told.

Another child wanted to know how to identify a crocodile that was unwell. If the animal keeper, during his morning visit, finds the reptile staying away from the group and not active, then it is apparently sick, requiring immediate treatment. Crocs are social animals, he said.

``Do the crocs communicate?'' asked Rukmini, a 2nd standard student. Mr. Whitaker said, ``Yes, they do communicate even when the young ones are in the egg. If the young ones find it difficult to come out of the shell, they make a noise that goes something like `nyerk' and draws the mother's attention.

A study on identifying places to release the excess population of crocodiles into the wild is on, and this would be done soon, says Mr. Whitaker.

Questions were many on the occasion: On why crocodiles stay on land for long periods, how they breathe, whether they migrate, climb trees, eat their first born, life span, weight of new borns, and many more.

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