Much ado at Delhi zoo as two crocodiles escape enclosure

Two juvenile marsh crocodiles escaped their enclosures at the Delhi zoo throwing authorities into a panic on Wednesday, officials said on Thursday, adding that the reptiles were safely rescued and returned to their enclosures.

The two crocodiles were found roaming in the zoo premises before it was opened to visitors for the day. They reportedly escaped through a small opening in the enclosure wall which was created during ongoing pipeline-laying work.

Officials said the beat officer was unable to locate two out of the three crocodiles at around 6am on Wednesday. An alarm was sounded and the staff began searching for them within the premises.

One of the crocodiles was found on an internal road near the zoo director’s residence while the other was spotted by the staff near a water pump. Both were safely captured and returned to their enclosure by 6.30am. The zoo opens for visitors at 8.30am, officials said.

“They were both returned to their enclosures within half an hour and the gap was immediately plugged,” said a zoo official, requesting anonymity.

Zoo director Akanksha Mahajan confirmed the incident and said they may take action against the private contractor in charge of the pipeline work.

“Pipelines are being laid down across the zoo to replace the old ones, which are now corroded. The zoo uses these separate pipelines to water plants and maintain the lawns. In this particular case, the contractor did not inform us before making an opening in the enclosure’s wall, through which a pipeline was supposed to be put. The gap was also not plugged,” said Mahajan.

She added the authorities could have moved the reptiles in advance had they been informed by the contractor.

A second official added that the opening in the enclosure’s wall — around 1 foot high — was created late on Tuesday evening without informing the zoo staff. However, the crocodiles are likely to have escaped early on Wednesday.

“These are juvenile crocodiles and so they were able to make it out of the opening. Adult crocodiles may not have been able to get out. At the same time, crocodiles are not nocturnal and cannot see that well in the dark. It seems more plausible that they got out early on Wednesday, but were quickly rescued,” said the official.