A piece of good news for wildlife lovers and activists! The population of crocodiles in Satkosia and Bhitarkanika sanctuaries has increased this year.
According to information shared by Satkosia DFO Saroj Kumar Panda, there were 81 mugger crocodiles and seven gharials in the gorge sanctuary last year. This year, the population of mugger crocodiles has increased to 97 while that of gharials has gone up to 14.
However, the DFO said the number of birds visiting the Satkosia sanctuary has declined. Last year, around 3,800 birds were sighted while their number came down to 3,330 of 81 species this year.
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Notably, the crocodile census was carried out on January 6, 7 and 8 and bird census was done on January 10.
In the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary, the population of crocodiles has increased by 18. Last year, 1,793 crocodiles were found in Bhitarkanika. This year, their number has gone up to 1,811.
A total of 22 teams carried out the crocodile census in Bhitarkanika.