In order to conserve crocodiles from getting extinct and to keep them in the natural habitat, Birsa Munda Zoological Park have taken the initiative to send all the 30 newborns captive breed crocodiles back to their natural habitat. Presently, there are only 758 crocodiles and the species are on the verge of extinction.
Citing details about the conservation process and challenges, Director of Bhagwan Birsa Zoological Park said, “All the 30 crocodiles are only seven months old and we have planned to leave them in their natural habitat only after they attain the age of one and the half years. We are presently drafting the plans. The purpose is to link Ex-situ conservation with In-situ conservation.”
In the month of August 2016, the Zoo authority is planning to leave all the crocodiles in Ganga river at Sahibganj. However, such initiatives were taken up earlier also to conserve crocodiles at Crocodile conservation centre established in 1985 in Ormanjhi. But the authorities failed to do so and as a result at an initial stage itself crocodiles died due to several reasons and their number eventually declined.
The most important aspect in this entire project is to monitor the health and well being of crocodiles. “We are planning to collaborate with the several NGOs and wildlife experts to deal with the issues of human-animal conflicts. Wildlife Trust will help us in the project. It is a long process and also requires behaivour study of these species,” informed Veterinary Doctor of Birsa Zoological Park, Dr Ajay Kumar.
Citing details about the monitoring process and to deal with human-animal conflicts, Kumar further added, “Monitoring is important as these creatures are already on the verge of extinction. As per the plan we are going to use radio column, micro chip system to monitor these species. Moreover, we are also going to create awareness among the people and are trying to demarcate the isolated place for purpose.”
Considerable technological development over the past few years have enabled widespread application of electronic tags to study of animals in the wild, including in freshwater environments but there are certain constrains involved in it too.
“Technical constraints for tracking animals are often influenced by the characteristics of the animals being studied and the environment they inhabit. Although radio telemetry has historically been the most commonly used technology in freshwater, passive integrated transponder (PIT) technology, acoustic telemetry are other popular devices,” added Kumar.