New Delhi, June 30.- Bhitarkanika National Park in the state of Odissa became the largest habitat for estuarine crocodiles in India, with a record number of nesting sites.
In total, 101 marine or estuarine crocodile nesting sites were found this time by pollsters, Forest Division official Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Bimal Prasanna Acharya told reporters.
The number, which was 80 last year, increased by 25 percent in this wildlife sanctuary, India's second largest mangrove ecosystem.
A female crocodile lays 50 to 60 eggs and the young usually hatch after 70 to 80 days of incubation, Bimal told The Free Press Journal. At least 1,698 crocodiles, including albino species, were counted this year along the water bodies of the Mahanadi Delta region, compared to 1682 last year.