Overview

• Odisha established India’s first scientific crocodile recovery centres in 1975, incubating and rearing gharials at Tikarpada and saltwater crocodiles at Dangamal.
• Saltwater crocodile populations in Bhitarkanika National Park climbed from 96 in 1975 to 1,826 in 2025, with about one third mature enough to sustain further growth.
• Mugger crocodiles have reclaimed their historical range, with around 300 individuals recorded in Odisha waterways and an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 in India.
• Nearly 80 percent of the world’s wild gharials are now in India, numbering about 3,000 individuals, including 16 observed at Satkosia Gorge in early 2025.
• Rising human-crocodile conflicts have led authorities to install over 150 bamboo barricades at bathing ghats and to unveil a new gharial conservation project announced by Prime Minister Modi.