With the Crocodile Conservation Programme set to observe its 50th anniversary on Tuesday, Odisha, the only state to house all the three species of crocodiles, finds pride of place in implementing the most successful conservation project of saltwater crocodiles.
“The conservation programme of saltwater crocodiles, which were facing extinction five decades back, in Bhitarkanika National Park of Kendrapara district has turned out to be the most successful one in the country. Bhitarkanika is home to nearly 70% of India’s estuarine crocodile or saltwater crocodiles. This crocodilian species is also found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Sundarbans in West Bengal. But its population in these pockets is considerably on a lesser scale.
“The salt-water crocodile population in Bhitarkanika and adjoining river systems has increased manifold from 96 in 1975 to 1826 in 2025. About one third of the population comes under the adult or subadult category. Therefore it augurs well for further growth of reptiles’ population,” said Sudhakar Kar, crocodile researcher.
The State had launched the conservation programmes for all three crocodilian species- gharial, mugger and estuarine crocodiles in 1975, which no other State did so five decades back. Overall, the recovery of the species which were threatened to say the least has been on an impressive scale in general and in salt water crocodiles in particular, Kar opined.
While Bhitarkanika is the home to 1826 saltwater crocodiles, Satkosia gorge is the abode of 16 Gharials as per the census report of 2025 January. Around 300 Muggars live in the rivers of the state.
The success of the crocodile recovery project is principally due to the protection of their habitat and the mangrove forest stretches being conferred the status of wildlife sanctuary and national park. With habitat coming under protection of the forest department under wildlife sanctuary protection act, human interference in the river system and mangrove forest was proclaimed illegal, ensuring safe and congenial habitat of crocodiles, the researcher said.
Prior to the enactment of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.1972, there was indiscriminate killing of crocodiles for commercial purposes and wanton felling of mangrove trees. I am a native of these areas. I have seen crocodile skin being sold in the market in the late sixties and early seventies, he said.
With the natural habitats getting protected due to legislation, poaching was stopped and the Government took to the task of rebuilding the population through captive breeding as the survival rate of the crocodile hatchlings in nature is low because of predation. The effective implementation of the conservation programme was a difficult task in the initial years. But it picked up pace with the department making the people aware of the stringent clauses of the wildlife protection act, he said.
Incidents of furious crocodiles killing and maiming humans at periodic intervals have however posed a headache to the forest department with people living along the river side villages pointing accusing fingers at the Government saying that ‘it is intent on protecting crocs and humans’.
The forest department is sensitive towards human plight. It has erected bamboo barricades at more than 150 bathing ghats to prevent croc attacking humans. It’s only during the rainy season that these areas witness human-croc conflict as some of the crocs move upstream in search of food. Later they retreated back to their habitat to Bhitarkanika. We sound alert during this period, said Manas Das, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Rajnagar Mangrove (forest) Division.