Crocodile attack reports whip up fear in Sukkur

Wildlife Dept launches probe after social media reports of reptile dragging woman into canal

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KARACHI:

The Sindh Wildlife Department has launched an inquiry into reports of a crocodile attack on a woman in a canal emerging from the Sukkur Barrage. According to social media posts, the purported incident occurred in the Saleh Pat area along the Nara Canal, where a crocodile allegedly dragged a woman into deep water. Her husband managed to rescue her.

Following the reports, the Wildlife Dept directed its Sukkur team to visit the site, inspect the canal section, meet the affected family, collect the medical report and treatment details, and submit findings with recommendations.

A team, led by the deputy conservator, Sukkur Wildlife Division, and Area Wildlife Inspector Imam Bakhsh Samoon visited the emergency ward of Sukkur Civil Hospital but was informed that the family had left without informing hospital staff.

The department has repeatedly voiced concern over illegal settlements and hut constructions along the Nara Canal, a known habitat of Sindh’s native marsh crocodile.

Globally, 18 species of crocodiles exist, six of them in Asia. Sindh’s marsh crocodile, smaller and generally less aggressive than the Nile and saltwater species, is known to feed mainly on carrion and turns aggressive only when its territory is intruded upon.

Experts say the species prefers slow-moving waters and spends much of the day basking or in burrows, surviving months without food if necessary. The slow-flowing stretches and outer banks of the Nara Canal have long been a key habitat. In the past, similar reports of fatal crocodile attacks from the area have surfaced on social media but were later found to be false.