A group of fishermen have allegedly hacked to death a 7-feet-long estuarine crocodile in the Bagapatia village under Mahakalpada police station jurisdiction of Odisha's Kendrapara district.
Forest officials spotted the carcass of the slain crocodile near a water body in the village yesterday.
The carcass bore multiple injury marks and it was probably caught in the fishing net, said forest officials.
The crocodile had strayed into human settlement and had reportedly killed cattle, which angered the villagers, prompting them to kill the reptile, forest officials said.
The esturian crocodile has been accorded protected status under wildlife legal provisions, they said.
"A case under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has been registered. The reptile's body has been sent for post-mortem. From the injury marks, it is quite apparent that the reptile had fallen prey to man-animal conflict," said Mahakalpada Forest Range Officer, Bijoy Kumar Parida.
Since the last 18 months, seven adult and sub-adult salt-water crocodiles have died after trespassing in human habitations, forest officials said.
The species are itinerant in nature and stray into adjoining water-bodies because of its increase in hyper-salinity contents, they said adding, after a temporary sojourn, they leave for their permanent habitation within the Bhitarkanika habitation corridors.
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