THE HINDU (Chennai, India) 25 January 08 Crocodiles satisfied with fish populace - Two-day crocodile survey by forest officials begins (Sib Kumar Das)
Berhampur: The hearsay, myth and suspicions related to existence of crocodiles in the Ghodahada River and the Ghodahada reservoir on Ganjam and Gajapati district border was authenticated by the first crocodile enumeration conducted by the Forest Department on Thursday.
Ten teams of forest officials and local fishermen led by the conservator of forests, Debabrata Swain started this two-day crocodile survey that was started in the reservoir on Thursday.
Speaking to The Hindu over phone from the reservoir, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), A.K.Jena said they had sighted 29 mature Mugger (crocodilus palustris) crocodiles on the first day of survey. All these crocodiles were of five to 13 feet in length. “As the hatchlings and young crocodiles are yet to be enumerated we feel that the crocodile population in this reservoir may be more than 100,” he said. The survey teams have also located more than 20 tunnels used by crocodile families on beach of the reservoir.
The unique feature of these crocodiles was that they have till date not harmed any humans or domestic animals of the area, said Simanchal Behera, a local fisherman who was part of the survey team.
It seems they are quite satisfied with the fish populace in the reservoir. This reservoir is used for pisciculture by a cooperative of local inhabitants. But some fishermen alleged that their nets were being damaged by the crocodiles, who were finding easy to grab fish caught in fishing nets. Since long a myth existed in the area that crocodiles used to come to pay their respect at the Ujaleswar temple situated near the Ghodahada reservoir. This reservoir is part of a medium irrigation project established on the Ghodahada River. The work on this project had started in 1962 and it had completed in 1977. As per wild life experts crocodiles migrate during rainy season. But no study has been made yet regarding the migratory habit of the crocodiles of Ghodahada.
Mr. Jena said a small beginning of scientific study of this hidden crocodile habitat in Orissa had just been initiated.
Crocodiles satisfied with fish populace