Baby crocodiles have emerged out of their eggshells to make way towards waterbodies in and around Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha's Kendrapara district, marking the culmination of the annual breeding and nesting season of these endangered reptiles.
The sight of baby crocs breaking out of eggshells and their act of loitering aimlessly before hopping into the water-bodies and creeks is a visual treat to watch.
The emergence of hatchlings commenced since yesterday and will continue for the next six to seven days, a senior forest official said.
A group of ground-level staff engaged in keeping a watch and vigil over the nests were privileged to watch the rare natural phenomenon.
The fledgling crocs emerged from the shells sans their mothers. However, the forest personnel maintained safe distance from the nests as human interference turns these reptiles violent and aggressive.
As many as 72 croc nests were sighted in the wild by the enumerators this year while 56 nests had been spotted last year, the official said.
The rise in number of nests brings home the point that better conservation measures were taken by the state forest department, Divisional Forest Officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Division, Bimal Prasanna Acharya said.
Female crocodiles lay 50 to 60 eggs and the hatchlings usually emerge from the nests after 70 to 80 days of incubation period, he said.
However, hardly one out of every hundred baby crocs grows
to become adult as their mortality rate is very high. In the wild, babies are devoured by predating aquatic animals, observed reptile researcher, Sudhakar Kar.
The annual captive breeding of crocodiles' eggs as part of 'rear and release' programme of these endangered species, has been suspended. The eggs collected from the wild are hatched artificially in an enclosure, said officials.
The rear and release of these hatched reptiles has been going on since 1975, funded by the United Nations Development Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The conservation project undertaken in Bhitarkanika tasted success while a similar UNDP-funded 'gharial croc' conservation project launched simultaneously in Angul district's Tikarpada Sanctuary was a failure.
Adequate conservation measures by the state forest department have led to a systematic rise in the number of these reptiles over the years, claimed the official.
The number of salt water crocodiles, the species not found in any other river system in Odisha, as per the latest census, in Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary stood at 1644.
The wildlife sanctuary had been kept out of bounds for visitors to ensure disturbance-free annual nesting of crocs. The reptiles turn violent and restive when there is human interference in their habitat. Restriction on entry to sanctuary was clamped from May 31 till July 31, the official said.
The internationally acclaimed Bhitarkanika Ramsar wetland site continues to be a congenial habitat of salt-water crocodiles with the swampy mangrove-infested region housing the largest number of these reptiles.
The region is criss-crossed by innumerable water inlets, creeks and nullahs all forming the part of Bhitarkanika river system.
