A 58-year-old man was attacked and killed by a crocodile in Kendrapara district of Odisha on Monday. Police rushed to the spot after receiving the information, seized the body and sent it for postmortem. Forest officials said that according to the government’s compensation policy, an ex-gratia amount of Rs 600,000 will be given.
Forest range officer Chittaranjan Beura said the deceased was a resident of a village near Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district and had gone to graze buffaloes. The official said the crocodile attacked the man as he was crossing a drainage ditch with a herd of buffaloes. The victim, identified as Ajambar Nayak, a resident of Ichchapur village in Aul block, was found with his mutilated body on the banks of Kharasrota river.
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An ex-gratia amount of Rs. 6 lakh will be given
He said that under the government’s compensation policy for humans killed by protected wild animals, the family of the deceased will be given an ex-gratia amount of Rs 6 lakh. The official further said that the man-animal conflict near Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district has taken a dangerous turn recently, with nine people killed by estuarine crocodiles last year.
The number of crocodiles increased from 96 to 1,000.
According to wildlife experts, the conflict and resulting casualties occur most during the monsoon and winter, which is the nesting season for estuarine crocodiles. According to government data, the number of saltwater crocodiles in Bhitarkanika was 96 in 1975 and had increased to 1,00,811 by 2024.
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