It is a tiny piece of heaven on the Odisha coast. The Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary is where the world's largest living reptile, the estuarine crocodile, is thriving amidst sylvan surroundings after having been brought back from the brink. But now there is trouble with the reptile population booming, posing a threat to the natural balance.

From a strength of 96 crocodiles in 1976, the population now stands at 1,646. A boat ride in some areas can yield crocodile sightings as frequent as one croc a minute, according to a conservationist.

Capturing of animals is also illegal especially if the animal is a species figures in the schedules of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and people who indulge in such publicity could also face action and arrests from the forest officials.

Araujo’s observations come even as the Wildlife Institute of India declared that leopards (which also are animals that are “rescued”) is occupying an even greater area of Goa’s forests.

Sri Lanka's environmentalists say that the people of certain areas of the island tend to catch the crocodiles and hand over them to the Wildlife Department.

Environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardena says that the some incidents of mysterious deaths of crocodiles also had been reported, especially in Nilwala River of Matara district. The environmentalists suspect of poisoning behind the deaths of the crocodiles.

The country's first ever crocodile park is to be set up on a 50 acre plot of land in Kiralakelle belonging to the Wild Life Conservation Department on the banks of the Nilwala Ganga to prevent the crocodile-human conflict by restricting the reptiles to an encircled area.

This follows a proposal made by Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dallas Alahapperuma which was adopted at a meeting held at the Matara District Secretariat recently to discuss measures to overcome the crocodile threat in the Nilwala Ganga.

Matara District government officials have discussed plans to establish a park for the crocodiles as a measure to prevent the deaths due to the croc attacks in the surrounding areas of Nilwala River.

At a discussion held at the Matara District Secretariat on Monday with the participation of Minister Dullas Alahapperuma , the district officials have decided to set up the first ever crocodile park in Kirala Kele in Matara.

The Minister has pointed out that the initiative could be also used for the promotion of tourism industry besides protecting the people from the attacks.

As Prem Sharma steps gingerly into the sand-filled chamber, lines of baby crocodiles basking in the warm sunshine splash into a pond, eyes glinting behind their long, thin snouts.

Sharma quietly puts his hand into the green water, takes a young reptile from the pool, opens its mouth with a brush and begins to clean its teeth with potash, its thrashing 60 cm (2 ft) body held under his knee.

Rajasthan will soon accord the bio-diversity rich Jawai Bandh forests in Pali district the status of a conservation reserve. The rich forests and the water bodies along the Jawai dam in Sumerpur tehsil have a large presence of crocodiles. The wildlife census in 2011 had put their number at 288.

KOLKATA: The first ever crocodile census was kicked off in the Sunderbans on Sunday. The exercise to be conducted in the daylight, will help track the behavioural pattern of the apex predators of the aquatic system. A fund of Rs 10 lakh has been sanctioned. It may be noted that there were reports of human-estuarine crocodile conflicts in Sunderbans in recent times especially from Sajnekhali and Kultoli areas. Some predators were also spotted in the rivers inside the villages.

For inhabitants of the Sundarban islands, the fear of crocodiles lurking in the estuaries is second only to that of tigers. But while there are some estimates about the number of the big cats in the Mangrove forests, no one knows how many crocodiles prowl the waters.

To rectify this gap in information, the Forest Department will launch the first-ever exercise to estimate the number of crocodiles next week. Experts are relying on the fact that crocodiles, being cold-blooded animals, emerge from the waters and bask in the winter sun at this time of the year.

KOLKATA, 2 JAN: An enumeration of the crocodile population has been planned for the first time in the creeks and rivulets of the Sunderbans, Mr Pradip Vyas, director of Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve, said. He said the three-day enumeration would begin on 15 January.