Experts chart roadmap at seminar

Bhubaneswar: The State Wildlife Headquarters, in collaboration with the Forest, Environment and Climate Change department, organised a national seminar titled ‘Fifty Years of Crocodile Conservation: Learnings and Way Ahead’ here Wednesday. Former Sambalpur University vice-chancellor and Padma Shri awardee, Professor Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi, inaugurated the event, recalling Odisha’s pioneering role in India’s crocodile conservation movement since the launch of the Crocodile Conservation Project April 1, 1975. “Within two months of the project’s inception, Odisha achieved a breakthrough with the successful hatching of gharials and saltwater crocodiles at Tikarpada and Dangamal,” Hejmadi said, emphasising the need for continued research— including behavioural and genetic studies—to ensure the species’ long-term survival.

PCCF and HoFF Suresh Pant highlighted Odisha’s conservation success, particularly the rise in the saltwater crocodile population in Bhitarkanika— from 96 to 1,880 over the past five decades. He also pointed to the resurgence of crocodiles in the Satkosia Gorge and the recording of over 200 freshwater crocodiles this year. Pant also warned of emerging threats such as habitat degradation, dam construction, sand mining, and human-crocodile conflict and said that the department is implementing several measures, like victim compensation and safe bathing facilities, to mitigate such conflicts. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change deputy director general Artatran Mishra praised Odisha as the only Indian state conserving all three crocodile species—Saltwater (Baula) at Bhitarkanika, Mugger at Ramatirth and Similipal, and Gharial at Tikarpada and Satkosia. He also highlighted Odisha’s achievement in producing the country’s first PhD in crocodile research, underscoring the state’s leadership at the national level. Former PCCF Saroj Kumar Patnaik recommended a fresh survey to explore new habitats for gharials in the state.

In his welcome address, PCCF (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Prem Kumar Jha described the golden jubilee as India’s most successful wildlife conservation story. Chief Conservator of Forests and Nandankanan Zoological Park director Manoj V Nair proposed a vote of thanks. The seminar featured four technical sessions, covering ‘Saltwater crocodile conservation: Problems and challenges’, ‘Gharial conservation’, ‘Ex-situ conservation of crocodilians in Odisha’ and ‘Conservation of muggers: State perspectives and the way ahead’.

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