The six-foot-long crocodile. Representative image.
Credit: Special arrangement
Kendrapara (Odisha): A six-foot-long saltwater crocodile was rescued from a community pond in a village near Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha, forest officials said.
The residents of Gajarajpur village netted the crocodile after a three-hour-long gruelling exercise, they said.
Villagers claimed that the crocodile had ventured into the village around a fortnight ago and they had informed the forest officials but the reptile was not rescued.
"We had informed the forest officials about the crocodile and asked them to rescue it. But they did not listen to our pleas, forcing us to risk our lives to capture it," 53-year-old Pramod Pradhan of the village said.
Chittaranjan Beura, Forest Range Officer of the park, said, "The crocodile might have strayed into the village from nearby Barunei creek during high tide. The residents managed to capture it. After being informed, forest personnel released it into the wild. The locals did not cause any harm to the reptile." The population of saltwater crocodiles in Bhitarkanika has increased from 96 in 1975 to 1,811 at present.