Two female crocodiles of the endangered African slender-snouted species are all set to be flown from here to Ahmedabad.
Air India, the national carrier, offered free air transportation for these two 25-year-old reptiles, each weighing 110 kg, to Ahmedabad.
According to AI officials, the crocodiles will be flown on flight number AI 981.
The same airline already flew two Tomistoma crocodiles from Ahmedabad to Chennai in 2010. For the second time, the airline is offering this service free of cost.
Senior assistant general manager (Commercial) of Air India, R. Srinivasan, said this was being done as part of the firm’s corporate social responsibility.
Adequate care will be taken and the boxes will be placed in the cargo section along with other domestic cargo materials, he said.
Mohammed Riaz, regional cargo sales manager, said the flight will leave at 5.20 p.m. and take a little over two hours to reach Ahmedabad airport.
Assistant curator of Madras Crocodile Bank Trust Ajay Kartik said that there are more than 1,800 crocodiles of 17 varieties, out of which four are endangered species housed in their bank.
Normally, they are transported by road.
While the male crocodiles of this species grow up to a maximum of 4 to 4.5 metres (12’ to 14’), the females grew only up to 9’.
There is no crocodile at present at Sundarvan Nature Discovery Centre at Ahmedabad, which has snakes, birds, lizards and tortoise, at present.
Wildlife biologist Soham Mukherji, who will accompany these reptiles, said transporting by air is less stressful for the animal as the temperature is controlled inside the aircraft and travel is much quicker unlike on road.
He thanked the airline for acceding to their request to carry the reptiles free of cost.
They have obtained the necessary permission from the Central Zoo Authority of India for the transfer and all the IATA rules will be followed for carrying these species by aircraft, he said.
