A two-day-long counting exercise to estimate the number of crocodiles in the Vishwamitri river of Gujarat’s Vadodara city concluded on February 6, 2025.
The data is being analysed. However, it will be some time before the final results are out, an expert in charge of the analysis told Down To Earth (DTE).
“Yes. We have collected the data and are analysing it. I cannot give any definite date as to when we will be ready with the final figures,” Ritesh Gelot from the GEER Foundation told DTE.
The Vishwamitri originates on the hill of Pavagadh in Panchmahals district and flows some 200 kilometres into the Gulf of Khambhat. Primarily rain-fed, it flows through a 25-km stretch of Vadodara, Gujarat’s third-largest city, along the way before meeting the sea in Bharuch district.
The Vadodara stretch of the Vishwamitri is unique in that it is home to a large population of mugger or marsh crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris). Despite the Vishwamitri being the receptacle of sewage and industrial pollution and Vadodara being home to three million people, the crocodiles have managed to thrive in the river as it flows through the city.
The crocodile count in Vadodara is usually done by the forest department. But this time, it was done by the GEER Foundation, a government-funded NGO based in Gandhinagar, Ranjitsinh Devkar, from the zoology department of Vadodara’s Maharaja Sayajirao University, as well as the scientific advisor for the entire operation, told DTE.
“Teams were formed by the GEER Foundation and included members from the forest department Vadodara, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, student volunteers from the zoology department, non-profits and wildlife aficionados,” Devkar, who also designed and executed the protocol for the entire project, added.
He as well as Anirudh Vasava from non-profit Voluntary Nature Conservation in Anand decided on a diurnal and nocturnal count on February 5 day and night. Crocodiles can be easily spotted at night from their eye shine.
“The urban stretch of the Vishwamitri and adjacent ponds, where crocodiles have historically been found in Vadodara, were included in the count. The urban stretch of river was divided into zones slightly about a kilometre in some places to about a couple of kilometres in others,” said Devkar.
Nine to eleven teams scanned the 25-kilometre stretch of the Vishwamitri from Vemali to Talsat, divided into nine zones, within the municipal limits of Vadodara.
Each team comprised of a member of the GEER Foundation, a forester or RFO from the forest department, volunteers from NGOs and students.
“The registered participants were required to fill forms with information on the number of crocodiles sighted, their approximate size and location, what activity the animal was indulging in when it was potted and whether there were dens nearby. Information on other animals spotted during the count including freshwater turtles, monitor lizards, pythons, and porcupines was also written on the forms,” said Devkar.
He added that the number of crocodiles should not be the focus. Rather, it should be the river itself.
“The focus should be on the conservation of riparian habitat — the soil-water interface of the river — and not on the number of crocodiles. If the ecosystem is healthy, other things will fall in place,” he added.
The last count had found that there were slightly under 300 mugger crocodiles in the Vishwamitri. What if they are more than last time? Will that escalate human-crocodile conflict?
“Crocodiles will come in direct conflict with humans only if they are competing for space or food. If both are available, there will not be any conflict. If humans are encroaching into the river by landfilling, dumping construction and solid waste, then you are asking for trouble. Crocodiles and turtles eat minimally during winters. It is only during their breeding season in summers that one should stay away from them,” Devkar said.