Muggers (Crocodylus palustris), a species of crocodiles, are remnants of reptiles that lived about 265 years ago. The mugger can be found in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and in the Indo-China region, apart from southern Iran.
Seeing a mugger in its habitat is attractive, hence we took the trouble of visiting Pishin Dam, which is some 150 km away from Chabahar. This long journey has become tougher because of gasoline rationing.
On the way to the dam, we passed through Merrikhi Mount, banana farms and bamboo huts where residents dressed in local costumes sought to escape from the hot and burning sun.
Pishin Dam is one of the main habitats of muggers in Sistan-Baluchestan province. The rivers of Bahou Kalat, Sarbaz and Kaju and the lagoons of Pir Sohrab, Azadi, Kalani, Dargaz, Gaz Manzel and Hoot Kat are other habitats of this rare species. In the past, due to more favorable environmental conditions, more muggers were seen in these regions. However, in recent years, fewer muggers are found in these areas as their food resources have declined because of the province’s drought conditions.
After two hours of driving, we reached the dam, but there were no traces of muggers in the river or its banks. A guard told us that muggers avoid the hot sun and do not come to the surface of the water until afternoon. So we had to wait for a while.
As the weather cooled, we saw a couple of muggers emerge from the waters at a distance. We moved close, but the muggers felt our presence and ducked back into the water.

Breeding Center
It is obviously more convenient to see muggers in a breeding center. Therefore, we drove toward Dargaz and its mugger breeding center.
Manager of the center, Dad Rahman Keshavarzpour, said the center was the only venue for breeding muggers in Iran.
“There are two mugger breeding centers in Iran. One of the centers is currently inactive due to the drought condition and water shortage in the region. Six muggers (three males and three females) are kept at the Dargaz center,“ he said.
The center launched its activities about a year ago, as the crocodile was on the verge of extinction in the region.
“The center aims at preserving muggers, which have become a vanishing breed, and conducting more research on their living conditions and reproduction. This center has the capacity to breed 100 to 200 muggers,“ he said.
Keshavarzpour said the main problems pertain to feeding the muggers and providing a suitable habitat for them, especially because of water shortage.
“We give muggers chicken and fish at the center, but muggers hunt reptiles and even dogs, monkeys and birds in their natural habitats,“ he said.
The center’s manager pointed out that muggers are able to tolerate hunger for up to three months under special circumstances.

Characteristics
A mugger has 19 upper teeth and 15 lower teeth. Though its feet are short, it is highly mobile on land. It can travel considerable distances over land in search of food and a more suitable habitat. Its abdominal area is whitish yellow and over half of its length pertains to its tale.
Muggers lay eggs in late February. On average, a mugger lays 25 to 30 eggs. They conceal their eggs under soft soil at a depth of 20 cm to 30 cm. A baby mugger is 30 cm long upon birth.
It is estimated that 500 to 700 muggers live in Iran.
Iran’s Department of Environment (DoE) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other environment-oriented institutions support muggers, which are on the verge of extinction.
The skin of mugger is softer than the skin of other types of crocodile. In the past, hunters trapped muggers and smuggled their skin to Pakistan to be sold in European and regional Arab markets at hefty prices.
A mugger’s leather is used to make women’s accessories like bags and shoes. Some tribes are known to eat its meat.
Attacks on humans are not unheard of. A child was killed by a mugger in Iran during early 2006.
Keshavarzpour said, “If a mugger is not hungry, it is harmless and lazy. But when it is hungry, it comes out of water and moves toward adjacent villages and houses to eat anything that comes its way.“
Because of the difficulty involved in breeding this crocodile, the private sector has not yet entered this domain.
“The reptile can be a profit-making tourist attraction. During Norouz (Iranian New Year holidays), a large number of people from all over the country came to the area to see the muggers. We do not charge a ticket, but such centers can be expanded to provide better services to visitors and also boost tourism,“ he said.

Piotr Steinkeller, professor of Assyriology at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Harvard University, believes that the prehistoric site of Jiroft is the lost ancient city of Marhashi.
He developed the theory in his paper during the first round of the International Conference on Jiroft Civilization, which was held in Tehran on May 5 and 6, reported MNA.
Marhashi, (in earlier sources Warahshe) was a 3rd millennium BC city situated in eastern Elam, on the Iranian plateau. It is known from Mesopotamian sources and its precise location has not been identified. An inscription of Lugal-Anne-Mundu, the most important king of the Adab city-state in Sumer, locates it, along with Elam, to the south of Gutium, an ancient city in upper Mesopotamia. The inscription also explains that Lugal-Anne-Mundu confronted the Warahshe king, Migir-Enlil.
Jiroft is the lost ancient city of Marhashi which had been located between Anshan and Meluhha, Steinkeller said.
Anshan was one of the early capitals of Elam, from the 3rd millennium BC, which is located 36 kilometers northwest of modern Shiraz in Fars Province, southwestern Iran.
The Indus Valley Civilization has been tentatively identified with the name Meluhha known from Sumerian records.
According to Steinkeller, Marhashi was a political and economic power in eastern Iran, which had been in a close contact with Babylonia. This relationship had been developed over two periods, which has influenced the political history of the region for at least a half century.
He said that Jiroft is the heart of the ancient city of Marhashi and hoped that upcoming excavations and studies would help archaeologists discover other parts of the city.
According to the secretary of the conference, Yousef Majidzadeh, over 700 ancient sites such as hills and graves have been discovered in Jiroft over the past six seasons of excavation by a team of archaeologists led by Majidzadeh.
Located next to the Halil-Roud River in southern Kerman Province, Jiroft came into the spotlight in 2002 when extensive illegal excavations by local people who went on plundering priceless historical items came out.