Kendrapara: Bhitarkanika National Park (BNP) in Kendrapara district will remain closed for visitors beginning Sunday for a period of 10 days to facilitate a crocodile census. Entry of foreign and local visitors will be prohibited during this period. The national park will again reopen for visitors from January 12, 2022.
Basic objective behind the closure of the national park is to avoid human interference during the days when crocodile census is carried out, Kendrapara Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jagyandatta Pati said.
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The national park is home to 70 per cent of India’s estuarine crocodiles or saltwater crocodiles, conservation of which started in 1975. According to 2021 census, there are 1,768 saltwater crocodiles in the wildlife habitat, which is India’s second-largest mangrove ecosystem.
Adequate conservation measures by the forest department have led to a systematic rise in the number of crocodiles over the years, DFO Pati informed.
It is pertinent to mention here that dolphin census was conducted at Bhitarkanika from December 16 to December 18, 2021. Counting of dolphins is being done every year in Bhitarkanika since 2015.
PNN