Recurring crocodile deaths spark conservation concerns in Bhitarkanika

Bhubaneswar, Nov 3 (UNI) The spate of crocodile deaths in and around Bhitarkanika National Park has raised serious conservation concerns, with another female saltwater crocodile found dead in the Hansua river near Badakota village, taking the toll to five in just 27 days. The four-foot-two-inch-long carcass was spotted by locals, who alerted forest officials on Monday. A team subsequently retrieved it for post-mortem examination to ascertain the cause of death, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Varadaraj Gaonkar said on Tuesday. Viscera samples from all five dead reptiles have been sent to the Centre for Wildlife Health at Odisha University of Agriculture…