CNP collects 259 crocodile eggs

Kathmandu: The Chitwan National Park (CNP) has collected 259 crocodile eggs from the Rapti river banks. The eggs were collected from nine nests during a search, said the CNP.

Crocodile eggs from additional six nests were released into nature, said the CNP assistant conservation officer, Santa Bahadur Magar, who is assigned to look after the affairs of the crocodile-hatching farm. Seventeen of the recovered eggs from a nest were found scattering, he said.

The eggs collected from the area from Khorsor Ghat of the river and Sitamai Ghat have been kept on the farm for hatching, he said, adding that they will be hatched after May 29.

Crocodiles have laid eggs in three nests on the farm after a break of two years. There are two male crocodiles on the farm, and the problem in them is estimated to be a cause for female crocodiles not laying eggs for two years in the past, it has been said. In the past five years, a total of 563 crocodile eggs were collected, from which 496 eggs hatched to produce hatchlings. Of the hatchlings, around 300 have survived so far.

The Rapti River and its banks are considered to be an ideal habitat for crocodiles. Over 1,800 crocodiles grown in the farm have been released into various rivers of the country with over 1,100 into the Rapti River alone, said the CNP officials.

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