After a while, crocodile farm

After a while, crocodile farm

Mushtaq Ahmed and Rita Alam chronicle the journey from an avid planner of an apparently impossible scheme to starting Ahmed’s own crocodile farm in the outskirts of Mymensingh where he now houses one of nature’s most dangerous reptile species
It has been six years since Rommo and I thought up the idea of starting a crocodile farm. Never did I think that I would really be able to go through with it but that didn’t stop me from dreaming. I remember a lot of people thought I was practically bonkers, penniless and drifting from one trade to another, not making any real sense of my life in conventional Bangladeshi terms. How is he supposed to start a crocodile farm? Everyone wondered. I had always wanted to do something out of the ordinary and perhaps that made me a black sheep but I proved I could make the impossible happen. Today, I sit on the balcony of my farm-bungalow, looking over green rice fields in the northwest and the crocodile pens all around spanning the east-side from north-south with 67 crocodiles. It is a sublime evening, the sun setting after an hour of rain. I look around taking stock of where the crocodile farm stands now. Getting here was not easy, running the farm is fun I admit but establishing this farm was painful...but I also have to say it has been quite adventurous. I capitalised on the connections and relationships I had formed with various zoologists while working as a guide for the Guide Tours in the Sundarbans. I am especially grateful to Anisuzzaman Khan who helped in thinking out the project. Rommo had left Dhaka for London, while I continued planning and formulated a business plan which I submitted to ATDP-II in January 2003. ATDP-II was a USAID project that funded agro-based businesses. April 24, 2003. ‘….we are pleased to inform you that your business plan has been accepted.’ I couldn’t believe my eyes. I started preparing for the presentation of the business plan. I shared this with my uncle, Mesbahul Hoque who I knew had good and shrewd business sense. Mesbahul Hoque, Shejo Mama to me, assured me that this plan would work and that he would help me to raise funds for the venture. With ATDP’s fourth prize I felt I had already made it half-way. Little did I know of how many speed-breakers and potholes I would have to face on the way. With the help of Charles Uphaus, an USAID director, I got in touch with Romulus Whitaker, the crocodile man of South Asia who came to Bangladesh on a mission sponsored by USAID. I accompanied Romulus on his visit to the Bagerhat Shrine to see the eggs of the famous ‘Kala Pahar’ (‘Black Mountain’) and ‘Dhola Pahar’ (‘White Mountain’), the two last remaining crocodiles of the fresh water species, Crocodylus palustris in Bangladesh. Romulus gave me my first lesson on crocodiles during the visit and he told me that my business plan was excellent, commenting; ‘Now all you need are the crocodiles…’ Romulus’s approval of my business plan further reassured Shejo Mama about starting a crocodile farm and so we began searching for a suitable site. We registered Reptiles Farm Ltd officially in September 2003 and consulted further with Dr Reza Khan about the technical aspects of the establishment. I mention the names of these people because of the invaluable support and inspiration they gave me for the project. In October 2003, we applied to the government for the permission to establish Bangladesh’s first crocodile farm. For six months I pursued the government for approval and at the same time talked to and interviewed many people for my crocodile team. Selecting and purchasing the right piece of land was pretty challenging. We looked at places in and around Gazipur and Mymensingh. Getting just the right piece of land with a supportive community was difficult but we finally settled on 15 acres in Uthura, under Bhaluka Upazilla, 14km from Mymensingh Road. Getting hold of this land took a whole year. Twice a week for a whole year I had to pursue the purchase and then obtain ownership of the land – I had to travel 15,000 km to acquire the property! Meanwhile, six months after applying, we were granted permission by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MOEF) to set up the farm. Bangladesh Enterprise Institute introduced me to South Asian Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) who helped with the registration formalities and other business details. SEDF appointed a team of financial experts who along with us prepared the feasibility study which was primary to getting the loan from the Bangladesh Bank – Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund unit. From the initial application to first disbursement in October 2005 was a long fourteen-month period. What I had not taken into account in my project plan was the number of times I would have to visit Bangladesh Bank to satisfy bureaucratic meetings. I actually wore out the soles of my favourite pair of leather shoes given to me at my wedding by my in-laws. I can remember attending many Bangladesh Bank meetings in my very, very tattered shoes. October 16, 2004, 28 months after Rommo’s idea, the crocodile farm went into operation. It also happened to be the first day of Ramadan. I, along with my team of four others travelled from Dhaka to Uthura without a clue of where we’d be sleeping or eating. All we had in our heads was that we had to build 14 ponds to accommodate 75 crocodiles due to arrive at the end of December. Natu, an old villager who lived on the edge of land we had purchased, saved us from starvation. He gave us our first full meal. We bought him a chicken and his wife made rice, dal and a delicious chicken curry which we ate under an olive tree. Natu still works with us; the crocodile farm is his life. The next day Munshi, another old man living on our land, was appointed as cook. We rented a house nearby where we only went to sleep at night. During the day it was back-breaking labour so we were grateful for whatever Munshi cooked. We had no option to be choosy. The menu was chicken curry, lau-dal and mixed vegetables everyday. Our dining room depended on the position of the sun over a berry tree. At night it was by candlelight as there was no electricity. In November 2004 we had our first battery operated light and this gave us a very valid cause to celebrate that evening. In just 60 days, 300,000cft earth was moved using manual labour and 14 ponds built complete with water supply and plumbing while we still didn’t have a proper toilet. The crocodiles’ needs were our first priority. Living and working in Uthura would not have been easy without the support of the villagers. Everyday there would be someone bringing a chicken, or vegetables from their farms for us, inquiring about our work and trying to help us in anyway they could. During the festival seasons of Eid there were numerous invitations for lunch and dinner. I am really grateful for their support and friendliness. On December 22, 2004 I went to Zia International Airport to receive the crocodile consignment. In 45 specially made boxes came 75 crocodiles. I transported these with police escort to the farm in five trucks where we reached at Fazr around 5:30am. All the way from the airport to the farm was a nightmare. The road was the worst in living memory and I was concerned that the crocodiles would not be able to recover from the trauma of being shaken so vigorously for such a continuous stretch of time. There was also the fear of having an accident and losing the crocodiles. Thankfully we arrived without any major incident. Just receiving the crocodiles was another milestone for me. It felt like a dream that the venture was actually unfolding in reality. I had to pinch myself time-to-time to check whether or not I was actually awake. Releasing the crocodiles was another story. Twenty of us started opening the crocodile boxes at eleven in the morning and it was no easy feat handling these intensely aggressive reptiles. Unfortunately when we opened the boxes, one male crocodile, 12.6 feet long had already died sometime during the journey from Malaysia. There were incidents of being almost bitten by one while another small female crocodile measuring eight feet jumped causing the cameraman and his assistant to run leaving behind their video equipment. At the end of the day all the crocodiles were transferred to the ponds without any major injury. Acclimatisation for the crocodiles took quite a while. Changing environments was quite strenuous for them, arriving in Bangladesh in extreme winter. It was almost three years before we got our first proper batch of crocodile babies which have now grown to over three feet. In August 2006, only two crocodiles laid a total of 67 eggs of which three hatched but all died within 24 hours. We had not been able to build proper incubation and nursery facilities back then, but managed to do so in 2007. From the eggs laid by 15 crocodiles during July-August 2007, 141 crocodile hatchlings survived. In 2008, we got a further 241 crocodile hatchlings. Caring from egg-laying to hatchling and further nursing requires following a very strict regimen. Since the crocodiles came to the farm, we have enlisted the help of many experts namely Romulus Whittaker, Geoff McClure, Dr Paolo Martaili, Dr Karthi Martaili, and Graham Webb. We are especially indebted to Geoff who worked night and day for two months in two years and still continues to advise us on the operation and care of the farm. There were times of crisis caring for the first batches of crocodile eggs and babies, and during these times my wife, Lipa (Masiha Akther) researched and helped tremendously. She was after all a zoologist and understood the needs of these animals better than me. Also, if it were not for her mental support and encouragement during the crises, this journey would have been even more difficult. I was introduced to her a week after getting the loan sanction letter from Bangladesh Bank (March 2005), which for me was a lucky sign and we married three months later.
Four years down the line, the farm looks very different. From the bleak and bare clearing of red earth, it is now a green picture. Only 15 per cent of the entire project has been undertaken and already 55,000 cft sand, 400,000 pcs of bricks, 4,000 bags of cement and 30 tons of iron rods have been used. The crocodile farm is a 650,000 square feet canvas and so far it has been painted with almost 5,000 trees of at least 60 different species which include all the native Bangladeshi fruits as well as some hybrids. The farm has numerous visiting and residing birds including a couple of shalik (moyna) families, two hottiti (lapwing) families, bok (heron), machranga (kingfisher), ghugu (dove), kathokra (woodpecker), finge (black drongo), chorui (sparrow), chil (kite) as well as jackals and a variety of insects. For the birds the farm is an especially safe haven. The office-cum-residential cottage is an L-shaped bungalow adorned with orchids and other flowers. Throughout the year there is always at least one flower in bloom to give colour. We have offices, bedrooms, a kitchen, dining space, and toilets with running water! We still have our first makeshift toilet which hasn’t been dismantled to remind us of how we started. From the battery-operated light we have graduated to a generator as well as being connected to the national grid and with enhanced telecommunications coverage, we can now access internet easily from the farm. This cottage is the probably the only bungalow in the world from where one can sit and watch crocodiles swimming in their enclosures. Monsoon nights with thunder and lightening are a euphoric experience making it more remarkable when you can see the crocodiles enjoying the weather in lightening flashes. We currently have more than 450 crocodiles of different ages and are working towards making this number 15,000 within the next 10 years. Then the company will be able to sell about 5,000 crocodiles per year. Annually 1.5 million crocodile/alligator skins are sold per year with the market for prime crocodile skins doubling every ten years. The profit from this intervention will not only be personal but also a national achievement which can be further replicated.



March 26, 2009