Bhubaneswar, June 29: New crocodile nesting sites were found in the Gahirmatha Wildlife Sanctuary and near the Satabhaya beach this year.

"This year, a record number of 80 nesting sites of estuarine crocodiles were spotted at the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary. Apart from that, the amphibians' nesting sites have also been found in the wetlands near the Gahirmatha and Baunsagadi rivulet for the first time," said Rajnagar divisional forest officer Bimal Prasanna Acharya.

Last year, 75 nesting sites had been sighted in the Bhitarkanika sanctuary. The number of nests may still be more as enumerators could not venture into the inaccessible creeks and wetlands. The female crocodiles often turn violent seeing the intruders," said Acharya.

The majority of such sites were spotted within the core area of the sanctuary. Nearly 73 nests were sighted in the Kanika range, while the Ganjeikhia creek recorded the highest number of 15 nests.

The female crocodiles usually prefer narrow creeks free from high tides for nesting. The Ganjeikhia creek had the perfect ambience for it, said the official.

Bhitarkanika is home to 1,682 crocodiles, including albino species. The enumerators had sighted 1,671 species living along the water bodies of the sanctuary.

Crocodile researchers were excited with the discovery of new nesting sites, which had never been sighted earlier in these patches. The crocodile conservation programme at Bhitarkanika had begun in 1975 under the UNDP funding.

A forest department official said wildlife workers were taking care to ensure that predators such as snakes, jackals and dogs did not devour eggs of crocodiles. Adequate conservation measures by the state forest department have led to a systematic rise in the number of reptiles over the years, they claimed.