The latest move by the Forest Department could exacerbate the situation. Crocodile biologist Soham Mukherjee who is based in Ahmedabad, and has been involved in hundreds of rescue efforts across Gujarat for the Indian Mugger, has also strongly condemned the decision to move the crocodiles out – “crocodiles have a very strong homing instinct and mechanisms.”

He adds, “Like other wild animals, they have ‘homes’ where they have grown up, knowing all about the various resources within, and have figured out a way of surviving there and fulfilling their biological and ecological needs. When removed from that system and translocated at random, they get into a homing mode where they will spend most of their energy in trying to ‘home back’. This is true especially for larger individuals, though younger crocs may be better at adapting to the new place”.