“After getting the autopsy report, we will know the exact reason behind the death of the reptile,” said Manas Das, the Forest Range Officer of the park.
The carcass of an eight-foot-long saltwater crocodile was found on Tuesday in Brahmani river near Panchupali village in close vicinity of Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha’s Kendrapara district.
“The forest officials retrieved the decomposed carcass from the water. We sent the carcass to the veterinary hospital at Rajnagar for autopsy. After getting the autopsy report, we will know the exact reason behind the death of the reptile,” said Manas Das, the Forest Range Officer of the park.
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Saltwater crocodiles are covered under the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, added the forest officer.
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This is the 11th instance of unnatural death of crocodiles in the last four years and the 33rd case of croc death in the park in the past 12 years, said official sources.
In 1975, the Ministry of Forest and Environment in collaboration with the UNDP had launched the crocodile breeding and rearing project in Dangamal in the national park.
The vast tract of forest and saltwater swamp in the park is the home of 1793 saltwater crocodiles as per the reptile census report of January 2023. The villages on the fringes of the national park are witnessing man-crocodile conflict on a regular basis.
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