Kendrapara: A group of fishermen have allegedly hacked to death a 5.5-foot-long estuarine crocodile at the river-side Jaynagar village in Rajkanika police limits of the district.
Forest officials spotted the croc's body near a water body at the village on Wednesday.
"It's a juvenile albino species. The body bore injury marks, and it was most probably caught in the fishing net," said a forest official.
The crocodile had strayed into the village and reportedly devoured domesticated animals. This might have angered local villagers to kill the animal, which is accorded the "protected" status under the wildlife legal provisions, said sources.
"As the estuarine crocodile, spotted dead, comes under scheduled and protected animal, a case under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, has been registered. The reptile's body has been sent for post-mortem," said divisional forest officer Bimal Prasanna Acharya.
"In all probability, the croc had fallen prey to unlawful fishing activity in the prohibited water bodies. The croc might have got entangled in fishing nets. Later, the fishermen might have killed it. As the animal body bore marks of injury, it could be conclusively inferred that it was a case of unnatural death," said an official.
The species are itinerant in nature and stray into the adjoining water bodies because of its increase in hyper-salinity contents. After a temporary sojourn, they leave for their permanent habitation corridors within the Bhitarkanika, according to forest officials.
Four decades ago when the Centre and the United Nations Development Programme had decided to conserve crocodiles, there were hardly three to four nests detected in the area. At that time, the population of salt-water crocodiles in the Bhitarkanika area was estimated to be 95, including 34 adults. Now, it has swollen to 1,698.
Baby elephant
A seven-month-old elephant, abandoned by its herd, was rescued from a canal by villagers of Nuagaon near Khuntuni on Thursday. A few villagers, who spotted the animal on Thursday, rescued it and carried the calf to the village on their shoulders. On being informed, forest officials rushed to the village and sent the baby pachyderm for medical examination.
