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Guard Extraordinaire: Crocodiles bred in captivity to guard their counterparts in the wild

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Since my childhood I was told that any creature should not be caged or kept in captivity, as they also need freedom as humans do. But for my utter surprise the crocodiles in the eastern India that were refrained from freedom and bred in captivity have helped to protect their endangered counterparts in the wild. Had they been in wild enjoying the freedom they would have also perished away by illegal fishing and habitat loss.

This crocodiles bred in Orissa’s Bhitarkanika sanctuary will now be released into mangrove wetlands to scare away poachers and help in the survival of the few remaining in the wild.

Besides leather and food crocodiles are illegally hunted for their blood, crocodillin that helps conquer human infections immune to standard antibiotics. The mangrove forests and habitat destruction in the states of Orissa and West Bengal has also reduced the number of species to a great extent. From several thousand a century ago the present number was just 100 in the early 1970s.

However in captivity the reptiles bred rapidly without any threat. At present Orissa’s Bhitarkanika sanctuary has more than 1,400 crocodiles.

Rathin Banerjee, a senior wildlife official said:

The swelling number of released crocodiles in the wild is working as a deterrent and keeping people away from the mangrove as villagers are more cautious before venturing into the forests.

Poachers and the villagers are the biggest threat to the reptiles in the wildlife sanctuaries. However large crocodiles that leap out of the water and attack prey or capsize boats and canoes are proving to be a good weapon to protect the species.

Last year, a 23 foot (7 metres) estuarine crocodile in Bhitarkanika sanctuary set a record when it was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest crocodile.

Three more estuarine crocodiles at the sanctuary measuring more than 19 ft, have also been mentioned on the Guinness Web site.

The crocodiles can not be tamed or used as a guard as the ferocious animal can attack anyone in the swamps. They are the most advanced of all reptiles despite their prehistoric look and it is believed that they have changed only a little since the time of the dinosaurs.

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Source: Enn

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