Kendrapara: Forest personnel from the Kanika Forest Range have rescued a 14.2-foot long male estuarine crocodile from a prawn ghery in Khunta village, located in the Rajkanika block of this coastal district. According to Sudarshan Gopinath Yadav, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Rajnagar Mangrove (Forest) and Wildlife Division, the team, experienced in rescuing estuarine crocodiles, captured the reptile with the help of fishing nets and later released it into the Bhitarkanika river within the national park. Sukanta Kumar Biswal, a resident of Khunta, spotted the giant crocodile Saturday in his prawn ghery. He informed the Bhitarkanika National Park authorities, who promptly deployed a forest rescue team to the site.
After an eight-hour-long operation, the team successfully secured the crocodile. Crocodiles typically stray from their natural habitat into nearby rivers and water bodies during high tide, when salinity levels rise due to the influx of tidal water into the creeks and rivulets. During the severe cyclonic storm ‘Dana’, high tides caused tidal water to enter water bodies in Bhitarkanika National Park, which is home to 1,811 estuarine crocodiles. It is believed that the rescued crocodile might have strayed from its natural habitat, said DFO Yadav. A few days earlier, during the cyclone, Forest personnel also rescued a cobra that had entered Alekha Ashram in Gupti. The Bhitarkanika National Park authorities have alerted locals to avoid rivers and rivulets, as estuarine crocodiles may have entered these waters.
