With his wolf whistle, Konkan man turns ‘Pied Piper’ and sways crocodiles out of river

Charatkar of Insuli village in Sindhudurg district has a rapport with the crocodiles. The 38-year-old poultry trader says he has been feeding crocodiles chicken meat for more than a decade. He feeds the crocodiles twice a week. Charatkar’s relationship with the reptiles started when he spotted two babies close in the river and started feeding them. The babies grew and so did the numbers.

Soham Mukherjee, a herpetologist, says crocodiles are “trainable” creatures. “Crocodiles responding to this Konkan villager’s whistles is a case of behavioural conditioning,”

Deputy conservator of forests (Sindhudurg), Samadan Chavan, told TOI they plan to promote the place as a ‘Magar Darshan’ (crocodile viewing) point. “We plan to set up a watchtower on the banks where telescopes will be provided to visitors,”  Charatkar’s rapport with crocodiles is drawing tourists from Mumbai, Goa and even Delhi.