The number of Mugger crocodiles in the Satkosia gorge is recorded unchanged at 90 and Gharial population has dwindled by one from six to five in January this year. It was revealed in a census report conducted by concerned forest staffs this month. The numbers of Muggers and Gharials in the gorge, a 40-km stretch of Mahanadi Angul district’s Athamallik to Chakragarh in Cuttack districts Athagarh area, had stood at 90 and six in January 2014.
However, the Forest department has released 15 Gharials from the Nandakanan zoo in Satkosia in two phases of which three have died. With this, the total number of Gharials in Satkosia is now 17.
Satkosia Wildlife Division DFO SMT Rehman said forest staffs counted the crocodiles they had spotted. He, however, informed that there is one male Gharial in Satkosia gorge measuring 13-14 feet. “To increase Gharial population in Mahanadi, we have decided to release three female Gharials from Nandankanan in Satkosia very soon,” he added.
The DFO also informed that the three-day bird census, carried out in several water bodies along the 22-km stretch of Mahanadi under Satkosia Wildlife Division which concluded on January 6, has found the presence of 51 bird species of which 31 species have been found in Sishu Pathara (Suhagi Irrigation Project) area.
“While 6,488 birds have been found along the Mahanadi river bed, 2,365 birds were spotted in Sishu Pathara area,” he said, adding that these birds are presumed to have come from the Himalayan region.