Crocodile population in Orissa forest goes up
January 24th, 2009 - 10:48 am ICT by IANSBhubaneswar, Jan 24 (IANS) The population of saltwater crocodiles in Orissa’s Bhitarkanika National Park, the world’s largest rookery of Olive Ridley turtles, has gone up to 1,572 this year from 1,498 in January 2008. In 2006, the Guinness Book of World Records adjudged a 23-foot-long saltwater crocodile from Bhitarkanika the biggest crocodile in the world.The annual census in the park, some 170 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, was conducted during Jan 12-18 this year, jointly by wildlife department officials and NGO representatives.
“We used non-mechanised boats to conduct the exercise. We also used GPS (Global Positioning System) to track the crocodiles,” Sudhakar Kar, a crocodile researcher in the state’s wildlife department, told IANS.
The 1,572 crocodiles consisted of 538 hatchlings, 374 yearlings, 256 juveniles, 144 sub-adults and 260 adults. There were two giant crocodiles measuring more than 20 feet each, Kar added.
Bhitarkanika, in the coastal district of Kendrapada, is also famous for attracting a large number of migratory birds every winter.
In 1975, the forest and environment ministry of the state in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had started a crocodile breeding and rearing project in the park.
- 1,654 crocodiles in Orissa park - Jan 16, 2011
- Bhitarkanika bans tourist entry as crocodiles breed - May 15, 2012
- over 10,000 migratory birds reach Orissa national park - Oct 27, 2011
- Birds sighted at Orissa sanctuary drop to only 45,610 - Dec 27, 2010
- Orissa bans fishing near turtle nesting sites - Nov 01, 2011
- The crocs of Bhitarkanika: A problem of plenty? (With Image) - May 21, 2012
- 50,000 endangered turtles nest in Odisha's Rushikulya beach - Mar 01, 2012
- Orissa breeds a record number of endangered gharials - Aug 20, 2009
- Olive Ridleys may delay mass nesting at Odisha beach - Feb 03, 2012
- Orissa sets up camps to protect nesting turtles - Oct 28, 2010
- Fisherman arrested for killing crocodile - Jun 20, 2010
- As rare Olive Ridleys mate, Orissa mounts vigil - Dec 21, 2010
- Six held in Orissa for poaching - Sep 06, 2009
- Orissa bans fishing near turtle nesting sites - Nov 01, 2010
- Crocodile population rises to 1,610 in Bhitarkanika - Jan 14, 2010
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