Gangaram co-existed peacefully with people of Bawa Mohtara for 130 years.
Photo : PTI
Stories of human-wildlife coexistence in India are often headlined by elephants, leopards and tigers, but a village in Chhattisgarh has an unlikely protagonist in its tale: a crocodile.
Gangaram was a beloved and docile Mugger, whom residents of Bawa Mohtara considered a friend. In 2019, when he died aged 130, the village had a funeral and later built him a memorial.
And why, should you wonder, was a village so attached to a crocodile? Peaceful co-existence. They trusted Gangaram not to attack their children at play or women when they washed clothes at the edge of his pond.
Crocodiles are highly-successful apex predators that have been around for millions of years, without having to evolve significantly. They are incredibly strong, stealthy and almost invincible.
Humans may not be their natural prey, but, being opportunistic predators, the reptilian behemoths are not above hunting us, especially when they feel threatened.
It was clear that Gangaram was extraordinarily special. And so, for 130 years, Bawa Mohtara lived in harmony with their friendly water neighbour, even coming to be known as ‘Magarmachha-vala gaon’ or the crocodile village at one point.
In January 2019, he died of natural causes. About 500 people gathered for his funeral, to which Gangaram was taken on a tractor, garlanded.
“After getting information about its death, the forest personnel went there and a post mortem was conducted by veterinarians,” the sarpanch said.
“After the autopsy, the carcass was handed over to the villagers as they wanted to perform its final rites.”
In fact, many mourning homes didn’t even cook that day.
A few years later, the village built a memorial to the crocodile by the pond in which he lived.
Then-sub-divisional forest officer R K Sinha said Bawa Mohtara had set a rare example of coexistence, considering predators who enter human settlements aren’t usually given the same treatment.
