| Description: | The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology is a reptile zoo and herpetology research station, located 40 km south of the city of Chennai, in state of Tamil Nadu, India. It was established with the aim of saving three Indian endangered species of crocodile the marsh or mugger crocodile, the saltwater crocodile, and the gharial, which at the time were all nearing extinction.
The Madras Crocodile Bank was started on 26 August 1976 by herpetologist Romulus Whitaker and his wife Zai Whitaker. The bank was started to protect India's dwindling crocodile population and to preserve the art of snake catching. Along with other like-minded people, Whitaker founded the bank to conserve the three species of reptiles namely, the mugger the gharial and the saltwater crocodile.The bank was started with a mere population of 30 crocodiles, which has now grown to 2400 reptiles, of varied species. The bank has already produced more than 6,000 crocodiles. |
