A recent wildlife census has reestablished the Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha as the country’s abode of the albino estuarine crocodiles.
According to the census report released here recently, the wildlife enumerators spotted 20 rare white crocodiles in the brackish water bodies and water-inlets in the wetlands of the park.

There has been marginal increase in the population of the salt-water crocodiles in 2023 if one goes by the annual reptile census. There are 1,793 crocodiles including 20 whitish estuarine crocodiles whereas in 2022 1,784 in the national park.

The Estuarine crocodiles are also found in West Bengal’s Sundarbans, having the country’s largest mangrove cover. According to crocodile researcher, Dr. Sudhakar Kar, who led the census team to count these reptiles, the population of crocodiles in wild habitats of Bhitarkanika is much higher in density.

“During the census, we sighted 569 hatchlings (two feet ), 388 yearlings( 2-3 feet),325 juveniles (3to 6 feet ), 166 sub-adults (six to eight feet long) and 345 adults reptiles ( more than 8 feet long) . Bhitarkanika is also home to 20 whitish crocodiles as per the reptile census report”, said Kar.

The Centre had collaborated with UNDP for conservation of crocodiles in 1975. Then, the population of salt-water crocodiles in the Bhitarkanika area stood at 95, including 34 adults. Now, the population has swollen to 1,793, said the census report.

In 1975, two white crocodiles had been found inhabiting the Bhitarkanika water bodies. Last year, the number has gone up to 16, he said. Further, albino reptiles have been re-sighted in the park, the brackish water bodies of the national park have emerged as favourable habitation corridors for white crocodiles.

The typical complexion of these reptiles was mainly due to the genetic pigment malformation and mutant variation. Apart from the 20 white crocs, Bhitarkanika is also the abode to two other adult white crocodiles living in captivity in the park’s enclosure.

The 48-year-old female albino crocodile Gori living in a pen inside the national park is a major tourists’ attraction. The 12-foot-long Gori, hatched and bred by the Odisha forest department as a part of crocodile conservation programme, used to hog the spotlight over the years for its typical behavioral instinct.
Living in captivity since its birth in the national park, the animal continues to shun mating habits. It had rejected companionship on several occasions in the past.

The national park is crisscrossed by innumerable water inlets, creeks and nullahs all forming the part of the Bhitarkanika river system. The enumerators extensively covered vulnerable riverside villages where reports of man-croc conflict had reached a flashpoint in the recent past. However, the sighting of these reptiles was few and far between. More than 70% of crocs were sighted in the water-bodies in the core area of the National Park.