The crocodile which had kept the Forest Department, Police and the Zoo officials on tenterhooks after making its way into a trench at Nanakramguda in Narsinghi on the outskirts of city eight days back all through the past week was finally netted and shifted to Nehru Zoological Park on Tuesday morning.
The reptile, which has been playing hide and seek with the police and forest officials all through the week by peeking out of the water and then evading their attempts to catch it, was finally snared after the exasperated officials deployed eight water pumps and drained the trench.
Officials said that about 80 per cent of the trench was drained before the six-foot long male crocodile was finally caught. The crocodile emerged out of the trench and ventured into the nearby bushes where it was tranquilised.
Nehru Zoological Park curator MA Waheed said the reptile came to nearby bushes as water was pumped out of trench. The reptile was tranquilised and shifted to a vehicle belonging to the zoo.
According to forest officials, the six-ft-long crocodile is aged around eight to nine years. After giving it the first aid at the zoo, the officials plan to leave it in its natural habitat at Manjira reservoir in Sangareddy.
The crocodile had become sluggish due to the prolonged submergence in the water. Crocodiles need to sunbathe to maintain their body temperature and prolonged periods being submerged tend to slow the reptiles down. In this case, the vast number of curious onlookers and the attempts by officials to net it led to the animal seeking refuge inside the water.