The country's first commercial crocodile venture, The Reptiles Farm Ltd, is now making efforts to bounce back from the pandemic-induced business slowdown, riding on the exports of crocodiles and skins. 

The farm, located at Hatibeer of Mymensingh's Bhaluka upazila, suffered serious losses as many crocodiles died owing to food shortage and the export of the skins of the animals came to a complete halt because of the pandemic in the last two years.

Now the farm management has embarked on fulfilling its pending export orders for 2,000 skins this year and is hopeful of shipping 500 skins early next year.

"The pandemic was a nightmare for people around the world and businesses. We are a victim of the crisis as well," said farm manager Abu Sayem Muhammad Arif.

Mushtaq Ahmed, a late writer, and Mesbahul Hoque, an entrepreneur, started working on crocodile farming in 2002. The two entrepreneurs jointly launched it investing Tk 5 crore with 49 per cent financial support coming from the Equity and Entrepreneur Fund of the government in the form of an interest-free loan.

Established on 15 acres of land, the farm received approval from the forest and environment ministry in 2004.

The entrepreneurs first imported 75 salt-water crocodiles aged 15 to 28 years from Malaysia in the same year at a cost of Tk 1.25 crore. During the shipment, one crocodile died while six more passed after reaching the farm.

The farm was sold to PK Halder in 2012. But when Halder's involvement in financial corruption surfaced in 2020, his ownership was cancelled.

Following a petition by International Leasing & Financial Service Ltd, a nonbank financial institution, from where Halder took Tk 100 crore in loans, the High Court formed a six-member committee headed by an international repute crocodile expert Enam Hoque as its managing director in March this year to run the farm.

Enam said: "We took the charge to support the survival of the country's first new business initiative. This is also a national asset."

When he assumed the responsibility, there were 1,700 crocodiles alive and many of them were injured and sick. So, the new management had to provide them treatment and serve proper diet to restore their health.

The farm is now home to more than 2,500 crocodiles. Of them, 93 are at the breeding stage and 500 are ready to shed skins that could be processed and exported. The production and skin processing are done at the farm.

"The number of crocodile babies will increase gradually," said Enam, who has a crocodile farming and processing business in Australia.

Reptiles Farm has a target to raise the animal stock to 20,000 crocodiles in the next five years. it has a capacity to accommodate around 40,000 crocodiles.

NEW EXPORT ITEM

Crocodile skin has emerged as a potential export item for Bangladesh due to its high demand in some Asian and European countries.

Reptiles Farm has been exporting crocodile skins to Japan for the last five years. It made its maiden export to the East Asian country in 2014 when it shipped 430 crocodile skins for around $200,000, said farm sources.

It shipped 1,507 skins between 2014 and 2019.

Now skins are exported only to Japan. But farm officials say there are huge opportunities to export skins and other items to Japan and other European and Asian countries.

More than two million crocodile skins are traded annually around the world, according to a 2017 United Nations Environment Programme report.

There are commercial crocodile farms in 40 countries, including China, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Reptiles Farm plans to export 1,000 skins annually. A piece of skin can bring $600 to $700.

Other by-products like skulls, nails, bones and scrap leathers are left to waste as there is no scope to sell them in the local markets or export the items since their volume is small, said Md Rafiqul Alam, a professor of the veterinary science faculty at the Bangladesh Agricultural University.

If the by-products could be sold at home and abroad, $1,500 to $2,000 more could be earned from each crocodile.

"This will support the farm financially," said Alam, also a director of the board of Reptiles Farm.

Crocodile meat is widely consumed in Australia, Japan, Singapore, China and the Americas. One kilogramme of meat is sold between $30 and $35 in international markets.

The meat is dumped since the export of the item from Bangladesh is not allowed. If meat is sold to foreigners in the country's posh hotels, the farm will be able to sell five to six tonnes of meat per year, according to Alam.

Crocodile leather is used for making luxury handbags, wallets, belts and boots and other items, said farm manager Arif.

Crocodile teeth, scrap hide and other by-products could be used to make fashionable commodities, garlands, ornaments, ornament boxes, wallets, showpieces and purses. Charcoal made from crocodile bones is used in manufacturing perfumes throughout the world.

The estimated cost of rearing a crocodile until its maturity is $250. A crocodile reaches maturity for skins in three years and it takes eight to 10 years to reach the breeding stage.

Chicken, minced beef, and small fish are given to crocodiles, aged one to three years, as food. For those aged three and above, the same items are given to them but once a week as it takes time for the grown-ups to digest food, said farm officials.

Around 7,000 saplings, including those of fruits and medicinal trees, have been planted in the farm this year, raising the number of total trees to 15,000 with a view to creating a congenial environment for the animals.

The new management has taken an initiative to turn Reptiles Farm into an attractive tourism destination. So, a resort could be opened next month, an addition that would contribute to making the farm financially strong.

"Both farming and tourism will also create jobs and business opportunities for hundreds of people in the locality," added Enam.