NEW KERALA (India) 07 June 04 Crocodile census planned in Sunderbans forest
Kolkata (IANS): A census of crocodiles has been planned in the swampy jungles of the Sunderbans in eastern India that is also one of the world's largest natural habitats for tigers.
The crocodile census is expected to start this winter, but a final date would soon be fixed, West Bengal forest officials said.
Crocodiles, once endangered because of rampant poaching, are now bred in captivity in the Sunderbans forest and experts feel their population has stabilised.
But there is a need to try to determine their numbers, they say. Of late, frequent incidents of crocodile attacks have been reported from the area.
In the past two months, four people have died in attacks by these reptiles and 10 wounded.
For years, forest officials in West Bengal successfully carried out censuses of tigers and in the last such exercise in January had counted about 1,000 pug marks that are now being analysed to determine their exact numbers.
The Sunderbans jungle, located in the world's largest delta by the Bay of Bengal, straddles West Bengal state and the southern tip of Bangladesh.
Unesco declared the 9,000 sq km mangrove tree forest a World Natural Heritage Site in 1985. The Indian part of the Sunderbans stretches across 4,200 sq km.
Crocodile census planned in Sunderbans forest