It was not a usual school day. It was a Saturday and I was ready to sleep in and drift into a dreamland. But it was also the day my class was to take a trip to the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT). Excitement got the better of me and all along the road trip down the East Coast Road, I was curious, with a tinge of fear, about seeing crocodiles up close. They were dangerous after all. Until then, these animals had only existed mostly in books, television, or stories. But once we reached the bank, taking in the enclosures and the reptiles, I felt a strange sense of comfort.
A visit to the Madras Crocodile Bank is a core memory for several Chennaiites. Some went there as schoolchildren, some went with families, and some others volunteered and went on to build careers in conservation. But visitors who came to learn about reptiles, often experienced a sense of calm from the growing bustle in the city.
As the MCBT completes 50 years, its story is no longer just about crocodiles. It is also about how a conservation project became woven into the everyday life and memories of our city. “We started on August 26, 1976,” begins Zai Whitaker, co-founder and managing trustee of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust.
The beginning
Zai was working with Romulus Whitaker, who had been conducting crocodile surveys across India since the early 1970s. He was seeing first-hand the alarming decline of the country’s crocodilian populations. Poaching for skins, construction of dams, habitat loss, and human encroachment had pushed the mugger, saltwater crocodile, and gharial — three widely found breeds in India — into serious trouble.
The gharials of northern India were particularly affected. “Seeing the situation, we came to the conclusion to start a separate enclosure for the crocodiles,” says Zai.
The duo came up with an idea to establish an exclusive breeding facility for crocodiles, raise the young, and eventually hand them over to forest departments for release into the wild. The early conservation work involved collecting crocodile eggs from the wild, with permission from the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, and bringing them back to the facility. Zai even travelled to the Andamans to collect saltwater crocodile eggs. Gharial hatchlings were later brought in as well.
But the success in procuring the eggs created an unexpected problem in them hatching. The mugger crocodiles were breeding beyond their usual capacity in captivity. At the bank, they began laying two nests a year instead of one. The initial excitement turned into worry. But this complication worked in favour of visitors, who got to see a growing number of crocodiles in different ages and sizes.
The middle
Finding solutions for breeding, accommodation, and eventually working towards saving the reptile from extinction was a challenge. The problem lay in the shrinking of the habitat into which they were supposed to return. Forest departments found that rivers and streams had changed, while communities were increasingly unwilling to live alongside crocodiles.
MCBT shifted gears and started focusing on education and research. And eventually, it expanded beyond crocodiles altogether. In 2008, it became a centre for herpetology, encompassing snakes, lizards, turtles, too.
It became a place where people could look closely at reptiles, understand their behaviour and natural history, ask questions, and learn to distinguish between venomous and non-venomous snakes. In its early years, visitors were even allowed to hold reptiles — something that is no longer possible under current wildlife regulations.
Today, around 800 reptiles are under its care, representing about 40 species. A team of around 35 people look after them, supported by a full-time veterinarian and vet assistant. Individuals from the Vadanamelli village help at the centre. Interns and volunteers come through programmes that have, over the years, created what Zai calls “a large community of Croc Bank alumni.”
But, not the end
One day, Zai noticed a family sitting on one of the benches, having a picnic. She recognised them as regular visitors and asked if the children liked crocodiles. Their answer was something she did not expect. The family liked the crocodiles, of course, but they loved the trees.
Those trees were planted in the 1970s. Now, they have grown into what is almost a forest. The Crocodile Bank has also become a refuge for birds, with egrets, crows, and cormorants nesting there, particularly during the breeding season. “The bank is a bird sanctuary as well now,” laughs Zai.
On a windy day, Zai says, the place can be noisy — the sea is close, and so is the road, with several vendors. But inside, there is still a sense of peace that many visitors have come to associate with the place. “Maybe the word is ‘homely’. That’s definitely a defining part of the Croc Bank.”
That warmth may explain why the place occupies such a peculiar position in Chennai’s imagination. What started as a conservation institution is now a zoological space, an educational centre and, a weekend destination.
Fifty years after two young conservationists put their life savings and wedding presents into a crocodile breeding project, the Crocodile Bank has grown into a platform they could not have entirely planned for.
Zai says she is lucky to have started this conservation journey in Chennai, “Because this city has given us so much support and encouragement. The number of people who come repeatedly, the families who spend hours looking around and enjoying the place. It’s really good to see that,” she concludes.