A crocodile at Bhitarkanika. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Aug. 7: Wildlife lovers are jubilant, as babies of estuarine crocodiles have emerged out of the eggshells in and around the research farm in Bhitarkanika National Park.

Over 500 hatchlings have broken out of the eggshells to make their way into water bodies and inlets in the park. This year, enumerators spotted 56 croc nests.

“Emergence of the fledgling crocodiles is a visual treat,” said forest officer of Rajnagar Mangrove Division Manoj Kumar Mahapatra.

Female crocodiles lay 50 to 60 eggs and the hatchlings usually emerge from the nests after 70 to 80 days of incubation period.

“The annual captive breeding of crocodiles’ eggs was suspended this year as the enclosure, where the rear-and-release programme of the species takes place, is being repaired. The eggs collected from the wild are hatched here artificially,” said Mahapatra.

The United National Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation fund the rear-and-release programme that has been going on since 1975. The conservation project undertaken in Bhitarkanika succeeded, while a similar UNDP-funded “gharial croc” conservation project, launched simultaneously, in the Tikarpada sanctuary near Satkosia gorge was a failure.

A forest official said wildlife employees had taken due care this time so that snakes, jackals and dogs didn’t devour the eggs.

The state forest department’s adequate conservation measures have led to a rise in the number of crocodiles over the years.

The number of saltwater crocodiles, according to the latest census, in Bhitarkanika stands at 1,649.

The sanctuary had been kept out of bounds for tourists to ensure disturbance-free annual nesting of the crocs between May 31 and July 31. Forest personnel, therefore, are maintaining safe distance from the nests as human interference turns the crocodiles violent and aggressive.

“The population increase of the species has been at a snail’s pace. Its growth is getting stabilised and stagnated,” said Mahapatra.

However, the internationally acclaimed Bhitarkanika Ramsar wetland site continues to be the congenial habitat of saltwater crocodiles with the swampy mangrove-infested region housing the largest number of the reptiles. Innumerable water inlets, creeks and nullahs, all forming the part of Bhitarkanika river system, have criss-crossed the region.