Kendrapada: The carcass of a seven-foot-long female saltwater crocodile was found in the Brahmani River in Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha’s Kendrapada district Saturday, officials said.
Locals spotted the carcass in the morning and alerted forest officials, who retrieved it and sent it to the Rajnagar veterinary facility for autopsy. “We will ascertain the cause of death after receiving the autopsy report,” said Dangamal Forest Range Officer Chitrasen Jena.
This was the third crocodile death in the area within a month. Earlier, a 3-foot-7-inch female crocodile was found dead near Badakota village in the Hansua river October 22 and a 14-foot-long male crocodile, aged around 20, near Nagada village in the Brahmani river October 6.
The crocodile deaths have raised concerns among wildlife experts and conservationists. The latest incident takes the number of suspected unnatural crocodile deaths to 20 over six years and 42 recorded deaths in and around the park over 14 years.
Bhitarkanika, a major mangrove and saltwater wetland ecosystem, is home to 1,858 saltwater crocodiles, according to the January 2026 census.
Noted herpetologist Sudhakar Kar, a former state Forest and Wildlife Department researcher, said the deaths pointed to possible environmental pressures and human-wildlife conflict.
“Unnatural deaths of adult crocodiles in Bhitarkanika and adjoining areas are alarming,” he said, noting that saltwater crocodiles are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Kar suspected illegal fishing nets could be contributing to the deaths. Though fishing is prohibited in the park’s water bodies, some fishermen allegedly continue to operate in its rivers and creeks. Crocodiles caught in nets may drown or suffocate when they cannot surface for air, he said.