Madras Crocodile Bank Trust

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Centre for Herpetology
Centre for Herpetology
Marsh Crocodiles in CrocBank
Marsh Crocodiles in CrocBank
A rare albino Cobra
A rare albino Cobra

The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust or CrocBank is a reptile zoo and herpetology research station, located near Mahabalipuram 40km south of the city of Chennai, in state of Tamil Nadu, India. It was established by Romulus Whitaker in 1976 with the aim of saving the three the Indian species of crocodile - the marsh or mugger crocodile, the saltwater crocodile, and the gharial, which at the time were all nearing extinction. The centre was originally located in Guindy National Park and was known as the Guindy Snake Park.

The captive breeding program at the CrocBank has been highly successful, with thousands of crocodiles reintroduced to the wild and more still sent to zoos and wildlife parks around the world. The CrocBank is currently home to over 2400 crocodiles, and also houses many species of turtles, snakes, and lizards which are viewable by the public.

The centre has a daily venom extraction show for the public. They publish a monthly newsletter, Here Be Dragons.The Trust also publishes a biannual herpetology journal called Hamadryad, and is home to one of the largest libraries of herpetological literature in India.

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