Minor boy confronts furious crocodile, survives

Kendrapara: A 14-year-old boy from a riverside village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district displayed exemplary courage to survive from crocodile attack after a ten-minute confrontation with the reptile, police said.

The boy, Om Prakash Sahoo, was taking a bath with his friends in Kani river near Araji village under Pattamundai police station jurisdiction when the 7-feet-long croc emerged from nowhere to drag him. But he fought bravely with the reptile to save his life.

The attack was so sudden that he had little time to react. As croc pounced, the minor in the last-ditch effort to escape from the claws of death punched the animal on the forehead and eye. The strike paid a dividend as the reptile released him from its grip, a relative of the survivor said.

Om Prakash was first admitted to the district headquarter hospital at Kendrapara. Later he was shifted to the SCB medical college and hospital at Cuttack. His condition is stated to be stable.

This is the third crocodile attack in the past month in and around Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district. A 54-year-old Janaki Jena, a woman of the riverside village Jharapada within Bhitarkanika National Park was killed by a crocodile on May 26 when she was washing utensils in the river. A crocodile also killed 40-year-old Shiv Prasad Behera of Nalapai village around Bhitarkanika on May 4 while he was taking a bath in the Brahmani river.

Estuarine crocodiles are straying into water bodies, creeks, and water inlets close to the human habitation areas. This has led to the outbreak of crocodile-man conflict in several areas lying on the close periphery of Bhitarkanika national park.

The authorities of Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary, which is home to 1,784 adult and juvenile crocodiles, have clamped a three-month-long prohibition on entry of tourists and visitors into the national park from May 1 till July 31.

“We have sounded an alert as the breeding season of these reptiles has begun. It’s a precautionary measure to curb man-animal conflict”, said an official.

The department is prioritizing the safety of local people. Local residents need to remain watchful and vigilant. People could ensure their own safety by keeping a safe distance from crocodile-infested water bodies, added the official.

The conflict and consequent loss of human lives are frequently recorded during the monsoon and winter months, the nesting season of the estuarine crocodiles.

The salt-water crocodile population in Bhitarkanika has increased manifold from 96 in 1975 to 1784 so far.