The population of estuarine crocodiles in water bodies of the Bhitarkanika National Park has gone for a marginal drop this year, said a latest census data on the reptiles released on Tuesday.
The census revealed that 1,644 crocodiles were counted against 1,649 in the previous year. While 1,555 crocodiles were counted living in the protected area of the national park, 89 reptiles were spotted inhabiting in the water zones outside the protected park area, added the data.
According to the official sources, at least six giant size crocodiles above 20 feet long in size were spotted and all of them were male. They include a 21-foot-long crocodile that figures in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest estuarine crocodile.
According to Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Divisional Forest Officer Kedar Kumar Swain, the sighting of the baby and young crocodiles was affected due to fog. That might be a reason why there is a fall in the number of crocodiles counted this year. But, it is not a cause of worry, he added.
On the other hand, the officials also conducted the census of birds in the national park on Tuesday. A total of 68,514 birds were sighted this year compared to 81,701 last year’s.
Environmentalists believe that birds might have skipped the spot because of the impact of cyclonic storm Phailin. This year the birds’ number fell by around 13,000.
Notably, another Ramsar site Chilika also witnessed a fall in the number of winged guests by 1.58 lakh compared to the previous census operation.