Crocodile Census Begins In Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park

Kendrapada: The annual crocodile census began in the Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha’s Kendrapada district on Sunday. The exercise, launched by the Forest department, will continue till January 22.

A total of 22 teams have been engaged to count the crocodiles in the creeks, rivers, wetland sites in four ranges within the park and its nearby areas, official sources said.

The national park has been shut to visitors as human activity could disrupt the crocodile headcount process.

The prohibition on the entry of visitors will also check noise pollution during the counting of the crocodiles. Bhitarkanika is believed to home to 70 per cent of India’s estuarine crocodiles or saltwater crocodiles. Conservation of the reptiles started in Bhitarkanika in 1975.

The number of saltwater crocodiles, the species that are not found in any other river system in Odisha, stood at 1,811 in the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary.

Adequate conservation measures by the state forest department had led to a steady rise in the number of these reptiles over the years, the sources added.