KENDRAPARA: As many as 38 baby saltwater crocodiles, aged around four years, were released into the water bodies of Bhitarkanika National Park on Thursday from the hatchery and rearing complex at Dangamal.
Range officer of the park, Manas Das said in 2018, the eggs were kept in a hatchery for proper ventilation and to ensure suitable conditions for hatching. Around four years back, 12 male and 26 female crocodiles emerged from the eggs and were released in the Kandarapatia creek in the park.
“The newly-born crocodiles are vulnerable to predator attacks. But the four-year-old crocodiles measuring one metre in length will easily survive in the wild to grow as adults,” he said. Crocodiles are a vital part of the ecosystem and help keep the riverine ecology clean. They also protect the mangrove forest within the park from poachers, he added.
Though the Forest department stopped the crocodile rearing programme in 1995 as the crocodile population reached a saturation point from a mere 96 in 1974 to more than 1,000. But each year, the department collects eggs from a nest to breed them in the crocodile hatchery and rearing complex at Dangamala for tourists, researchers and herpetologists. As per the 2022 January, crocodile census reports the crocodile population stands at 1,784 in the park.