Bantala: Much to the delight of wildlife lovers and environmentalists, as many as 32 gharial hatchlings have come out of the eggs at Satkosia gorge sanctuary in Angul district, a report said. Satkosia divisional forest officer (DFO) Saroj Kumar Panda told mediapersons here, Monday, that all the hatchlings have been born in natural way which has brought glory and fame to the sanctuary.
The DFO said that the forest officials during patrolling had come to know about a female gharial repeatedly visiting Baladmara area in the gorge to lay eggs. This alerted them as CCTVs were installed at the site to safeguard the nesting site of the gharial.
Moreover, to protect the eggs from predators like dogs and other animals, barbed wires were erected around the nesting site as fence. Finally, their long wait paid off as 32 hatchlings were born out of the eggs laid by the female gharial.
Last year, around 28 baby gharials had taken birth in the gorge. The birth of the hatchlings had gladdened the forest and sanctuary officials. However, soon they faced a big challenge of protecting the hatchlings. Notably, 25 of the 28 gharial hatchlings that took birth last year went missing.
Three of them were rescued from Puri Canal and kept under observation and supervision in the Nandankanan Zoological Park near Bhubaneswar. This year, they are guarding the movement of the hatchlings through CCTV cameras. They have also restricted the entry of visitors to Baladamara area where 30 hatchlings have taken birth, he added.
