Kendrapara: Rare albino crocodile, Gori, considered a treasure of Bhitarkanika National Park (BNP), has not been eating regularly. Worried over this development, wildlife lovers and forest personnel are keeping a close watch on the 44-year-old albino crocodile.
Subrat Kumar Patra, ACF-cum-in-charge ranger of Kanika forest range, said Gori has not been coming out from the water to take food. Gori used to come out of the water once in 48 to 72 hours to eat crabs. But now the albino has cut down the number of crabs she used to consume.
Earlier, Gori used to consume around 5 kg crabs a day, but since a fortnight she has stopped taking food every day. Meanwhile, Gori has been consuming 2 to 2.5 kg crab once in 48 to 72 hours, said Patra. Wildlife lovers here fear that Gori’s health would deteriorate if this continues.
Gori generally skips food in summer due to the high humidity and heat, and hardly comes out of the water. This is Gori’s normal behaviour during summer.
Vets come to check the health condition of captive crocodiles who are kept in the pen. Gori was certified healthy and after summer, Gori’s abnormal behaviour was expected to end as usual, said Patra.
Whenever Gori lays eggs, she skips food to guard her eggs for some days. It seems that Gori is going to lay infertile eggs once again at the pen as the nesting season of crocodiles is going on.
“When female albino crocodiles attain adulthood they normally lay eggs whether they mate with a male or not. The female crocodile lays 20 to 30 infertile eggs and guards them. When hatchlings do not emerge from the eggs, the crocodile destroys the eggs,” said Patra.
The pen in which Gori is staying since birth was expanded 11 times, and it was connected to a nearby creek in 2014. Earlier, Gori was staying in a 10 decimal pen, but in 2014 it was expanded into 110 decimals to ensure free movement.
Gori shot to fame in the 1980s after shunning mates. Forest officials had tried in 1985, 1987, 1990 and 1992 to mate the albino crocodile by releasing wild male crocodile into her pen. The search for male partners was stepped up after Gori turned violent and injured a male which was put into the pen by forest officials. Gori lost her left eye in the battle.
The Salt Water Crocodile Research & Conservation Project was launched in 1975. A wild nest was spotted in the Kalibhanjdiha Island inside the sanctuary in 1975. Later, 25 crocodile eggs, which were laid in the wild, were collected by forest officials, and they were hatched in the hatchery of Dangamala Research & Conservation Centre.
Later, 24 hatchlings emerged from the eggs including partial albino Gori. Gori was hatched artificially at the Dangamala Crocodile Research Centre June 26, 1975.
Due to its rare whitish colour and for research purposes, wildlife officials decided in 1975 to keep the baby albino crocodile in a pen, said DFO Bimal Prasanna Acharya.