Kendrapara: A fisherman showed great courage to confront a furious estuarine crocodile and yet survive from the claws of death.

Survivor Kiran Mandal was fishing in a creek near Badatubi village in the district's Mahakalpada police station limits when the eight-feet-long reptile pounced on him.

"The crocodile jumped out of the waterbody from nowhere. I was spreading the net at the ghat to fish. The attack was sudden. I had no time to react. The reptile had its teeth on my right arm and tried to drag me into the water. In an instant reflex action, I picked up a bamboo pole and hit the crocodile on its forehead and eye. The blow unnerved the reptile and it slowly released me from its grip. My confrontation with the crocodile was not more than a minute. After the animal retreated, I shouted for help. Local residents rushed to the site to rescue me and admit me in the hospital," he said.

The injured fisherman escaped with minor injury, but shuddered as he recalled his providential escape from the clutches of death.

It's always risky to fish in waterbodies of protected forest areas as these are ideal habitat for crocodiles, said Mahakalpada forest range officer Bijoy Kumar Parida.

Forest personnel are of the view that people are exposing themselves to crocodile attack by venturing into reptile-infested waterbodies.

" Over two-dozen riverside spots have been identified as danger zones because of frequent sighting of reptiles at these places. Warning has been issued to people to avoid these troubled water zones," the official said.