Status profile - 4
Status of Crocodiles in Andhra Pradesh 
B Srinivas, K Vara Prasad and BC Choudhury

The state of Andhra Pradesh historically supported populations of mugger (Crocodylus palustris) and saltwater crocodiles (C. porosus). However, the saltwater crocodile became extinct in the state by the late 1940's and the mugger population had been much reduced by the mid-1970's.

In 1976, the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department became part of the Indian Crocodile Conservation Project. During the winters of 1976-77 a detailed survey was carried out of crocodile populations and their habitat in the two Godavari and Krishna river systems and other many reservoirs. The survey revealed the total population estimation to be less than 30 adult mugger crocodiles with only six breeding females. This was a sorry state, considering the state had many suitable habitats for mugger crocodiles ,and the mangrove areas in deltaic region of the state are still good habitats for saltwater crocodile.

In 1977, a crocodile breeding and rearing centre was set up at Nehru Zoological Park, and subsequently satellite rearing centres set up at Vishakapatnam Zoo, Nagarjunasagar, Warangal, Horsely hills and Manjira Wildlife Sanctuary.

Since then over 1500 mugger crocodiles have been hatched and reared. For some time, the rearing centre at Hyderabad also catered to rearing gharial hatchlings obtained from Nepal and saltwater crocodiles obtained from Andaman & Nicobar Islands. However, the centre has now confined itself to breeding and rearing mugger crocodiles.

Currently, the state project has delinked its wild crocodile egg collection programme, and is involved in rearing crocodiles that breed in captivity at the Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Nagarjunasagar and Warangal facilities. Together in all these facilities, the state holds more than 300 crocodilians belonging to the three species.

 Crocodile Reintroduction

Since the start of the Crocodile Conservation Project in Andhra Pradesh, over 320 mugger (Table 1) and saltwater crocodiles have been released back into the wild in Nagarjuna Sagar _ Srisailam Tiger Reserve, Manjira Wildlife Sanctuary, Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary, Siwaram Wildlife 

Figure 3- Crocodiles in Andhra Pradesh

Sanctuary, Pakhal Wildlife Sanctuary and Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary. Mugger reintroductions total about 320 (Table 1).

1.  Nagarjuna Sagar _ Srisailam Sanctuary
   As recommended by HR Bustard, Technical Advisor, FAO/UNDP, the Ethipothala Waterfalls (Chandravanka river, tributary of the Krishna river) area was selected and the first ever release of captive-reared mugger (1 male and 3 females) in Asia took place here on 8 February 1977. Subsequent releases (two individuals each) took place on 23 December 1978 and 16 September 1980 respectively. To give adequate protection to this area, the Nagarjuna Sagar _ Srisailam sanctuary was declared and notified in 1978. The sanctuary, now a Tiger Reserve.In April 1981, 128 mugger (2 males and 126 females) were released in Krishna river within the Tiger Reserve and further releases were made in March 1996 in Nagarjuna Sagar (3 male and 2 females). In May 1997, 28 males and 32 females and in September 1998, 17 males and 23 females were released in the Srisailam reservoir. Following the release, the first breeding of the mugger crocodiles in the wild was reported in 1981 at the Ethipothala Waterfalls (Chaudhury and Bustard, 1982).

2. Manjira Wildlife Sanctuary
   The wild population of mugger in Manjira WLS was estimated to consists of 7 adults and 5 sub-adults in 1978 (BC Choudhury, unpublished data) where 10 juveniles were introduced in January 1985 and six more released in May 1989. There are reports of this released population breeding in wild since 1987 (Vijay Kumar, 1993).

3. Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary
   During the 1997 survey the reservoir on Kinnerasani river within Kinnerasani Reserve Forest in Khammam District was found suitable for crocodile release. It was declared a sanctuary in 1978 and in November 1980 a total of five males and 10 females were released in the reservoir. These mugger are also reported to be breeding in the wild since 1985 (BC Choudhury, 1995). 

4. Siwaram Wildlife Sanctuary
   Siwaram Wildlife Sanctuary, encompassing about 3 km of Godavari river in Karim Nagar District, provides a natural large riverine mugger habitat. The area was declared as Siwaram Wildlife Sanctuary in 1978. During the 1977 survey, 7 adults and 5 sub-adults were reported from here (Choudhury, BC, unpublished data), and in January 1985, 7 sub-adults and 8 Juveniles were released.

5. Pakhal Wildlife Sanctuary
   Pakhal Wildlife Sanctuary in Varangal District of Andhra Pradesh was selected for release of mugger, which took place in November 1980. 15 mugger consisting of 5 males and 10 females were released and reports of their breeding in the wild has been obtained from the year 1988-89.

 Release of Saltwater Crocodile

Habitat loss, commercial hunting, animosity and collection of plants for medicinal use have been the reasons for extinction of the saltwater crocodile in Andhra Pradesh in early 1960's. The loss of habitat, i.e. mangroves, in Andhra Pradesh could be attributed to factors like change in hydrological characters of rivers due to dams, exploitation of mangroves, together with regeneration failure and clearing of mangroves for agriculture. Still, occasional sightings of saltwater crocodile in mangrove areas have been reported. In 1981, a 3m long saltwater crocodile was caught in Krishna delta.

With the aim of rehabilitating the saltwater crocodile in the major mangrove areas in the state, Coringa range forest, in Godavari Delta, was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in July 1978. Four salt-water crocodile hatched from eggs collected from Andamans islands were released in this area in March 1978 (Bustard and Choudhury, 1981). However, anthropogenic pressure, animosity of of the fisherfolk towards crocodiles did not allow the animals to survive for long. Since then, no further releases of saltwater crocodile have been carried out in Andhra Pradesh, even though the species is breeding in captivity.

 Monitoring of Released Crocodiles

Monitoring of initially released stock revealed that the released stock survived and in 1981 June, have stated breeding in the wild (Choudhury and Bustard, 1981). Similarly, monitoring at Kinnerasani and Pakhal protected areas has provided encouraging results on their survival movement and dispersal. The state forest department has been monitoring the released populations and their survival from 1978 to 1984. During 1984-86, the monitoring exercises expanded and covered parameters such as nesting success, disposal of released stock in some of the release locations (BC Choudhury, unpublished data). The monitoring exercise, however, was restricted to occasional surveys during the nesting season.

In 1984, the Wildlife Institute of India became involved and a research project on monitoring of reintroduced crocodile was conducted between 1985 to 1990 in three wildlife areas - Manjira WLS, Ethipothala Waterfalls and Siwaram WLS. The study revealed that the adult crocodile population was stable, but the juvenile and sub-adult populations declined due to dispersal (Vijaya Kumar and Choudhury,1990 and Vijay Kumar, 1993).

 The Future

The state wildlife department has already identified additional crocodile habitats, some of which are inside protected areas, some within reserve forest and many in areas outside. The difficulty of reintroducing crocodiles into wetland sites notwithstanding, another study by the Wildlife Institute of India in 1995 has suggested release of crocodiles in several wetlands of the state (Choudhury, 1995).

Except for WII's monitoring exercise, only a small portion of the Krishna and Godavari river system has been surveyed between 1987 and 1990. A planned and systematic survey of all release locations and other habitats is necessary after 22 years of conservation efforts, which will help determine the present status of mugger crocodile in Andhra Pradesh . All apprehensions about the crocodiles have to be removed through proper education of rural people and in particular, the people who are living near crocodile habitats.

 References

Bustard, HR and BC Choudhury (1981) - Conservation future of the salt-water crocodile (Crocodylus porosus, Schneider) in India, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

CHOUDHURY, BC (1982) - Rehabilitating the endangered mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris, Lesson) in India: Case histories and future. Paper presented at Symposium: "Milestones in biological sciences" Utkal University, February, 1982. 1982. P.

Choudhury, BC and HR Bustard, (1982) - Restocking mugger crocodile Crocodylus palustris (Lesson) in Andhra Pradesh : Evaluation of a pilot release. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc: 79(2): 275-289.

Choudhury, BC and S Chowdhury (1987)- Lessons from crocodile reintroduction projects in India, Indian Forester, October 1986-87.

Report of a CSG Workshop held at Madras Crocodile Bank, Chennai, India from 1- 3 March 1993.

Vijay Kumar, V (1993) - Evaluation of mugger crocodiles Crocodylus palustris (Lesson) in Andhra Pradesh, India, Ph.D. Dissertation, Saurashtra University, Rajkot.

Vijay Kumar, V and BC Choudhury (1990) - Evaluation of mugger crocodiles restocking by monitoring studies and its use in long term management of the species. Interim study report, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun.