How many are there?

Cuttack, Jan. 4: Amid concern over relatively slow growth of saltwater crocodiles in the Bhitarkanika National Park, the state forest department will conduct a census of the reptiles there from next week.

The seven-day exercise will start January 12 and a ban on tourists would be imposed during the period. The prohibition would be clamped to prevent noise pollution during the census, said P.K. Behera, the divisional forest officer of Rajnagar mangrove (forest) and wildlife division.

The annual census of crocodiles is undertaken mid-winter in Bhitarkanika, an ideal habitat for saltwater crocodiles in the country with the largest concentration. Though the Sunderbans has a good mangrove forest, yet it houses a very small population of the saltwater crocodiles. So is the case of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The latest census carried out by the wildlife division indicated that Bhitarkanika had 1,498 crocodiles, including 252 adults. But the marginal, though proportionate growth, recorded in recent years has been a cause for worry among wildlife officials.

In 2008, the total number was found just 16 more than 1,482 counted in the previous year. In 2007, their number was found 28 more than 1,454 in 2006.

Experts believe that a drop in the salinity of estuarine water could be the reason for the reptiles’ slow growth in recent years. Out of the 1,498 crocodiles, 1,421 were spotted inside the park and 77 on the fringes. Of the total number, 538 were hatchlings, 342 yearlings, 227 juveniles, 139 sub-adults and 252 adults. “The presence of all age segments of crocodiles was a healthy sign of a viable population,” a senior wildlife official said.

“The crocodiles are generally counted during the daytime, when they come out to bask in the sun and at night from their eye reflections, as they float on water,” Behera said.