Vadodara: Whenever activists wildlife walk along the river Vishwamitri, ‘Rockstar’ followed silently.
He appeared for a moment before disappearing into the water again.
No, she is not a fellow human being.
Rockstar is a huge crocodile which was in the river bank behind the central prison.
“We have named Rockstar because he is brave and energetic enough,” said Vishal Thakur, a wildlife activist working in the field of conservation of crocodiles.
While people usually give fancy names for their pets, Vadodara ferocious crocodiles are still right in the heart of the city has been getting some unique names.
Crocodile man with a swollen eye has been named ‘Vithhal Kaniya’ after gangster character of Sanjay Dutt starrer ‘VASTAV’.
Other reptiles called ‘Bhasmasur’ because of its large size.
“He’s big and scary as well.
Every time she swam under the bridge Kala Ghoda, no reptile dared to cross his path,” said Thakur told Toi.
Thakur and Sanjay Soni, other wildlife activists, has named these reptiles for easy identification.
“We continue to take rounds of the river to ensure that the crocodile and dens they are safe.
So, we decided to give them a unique name that matches the features or their behavior.
We sometimes give them a call as well and reptiles appeared,” Soni, who volunteers for forestry department, said.
Kaniyaone Vitthal of fierce reptiles, which keeps the eggs with a malignant, called ‘Kaali’.
“Every time we walked in the nest, she soon appeared, crawling in front of the office and opened his jaws as a warning sign.
And judanya partners ‘Mahakaal’ too support it,” added Thakur.
And then there ‘LAXMI’ graceful and usually quiet.
“In this way, we feel connected with this reptile and make it part of our family,” he said.
Wiswamitri river is home to around 270 crocodiles.
The activists say that despite rapid urbanization, stretching between Fatehgunj and Sayajigunj have dozens of alligators but they never harm humans.