Crocodile hatchling found in well at Sopara village in Ashoknagar rescued with a plastic bucket

A crocodile hatchling was spotted in a well on Monday night in Sopara village, under the Bahadurpur area of Ashoknagar district. The well stands near a Shankarji temple.

On Tuesday morning, villagers began trying to get it out. The well was overgrown with bushes, so these were cleared first. After about four hours of effort, two youths safely brought the hatchling out at 11 am.

Vishal and Raghuveer of the village lifted the hatchling out of the well with the help of a plastic bucket.

Forest department beat guard Azhar Khan also reached the spot on receiving information. He safely released the hatchling into the Kethan river.

The question was how the hatchling reached a well so far from the river. Beat guard Azhar Khan said the well is about two and a half kilometres from the Kethan river. However, an underground canal runs from the river to Sopara village, and there are paddy fields around it that remain well filled with water. It is suspected that the hatchling reached the well by this route.

The hatchling is about 15 to 20 days old and roughly one and a half feet long.

In the past five years, crocodiles and their young have been found at several places away from the river in the Bahadurpur area. Such incidents, which keep coming up, point to the presence of crocodiles in the area and to their breeding.