War over territory leaves ‘intruder’ croc dead in Odisha’s Bhitarkanika

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Kendrapara, Mar 25:

Fights between and man and crocodile is nothing new at the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, famous for the menacing saltwater estuarine crocodiles. But a fierce fight between two crocodiles over territorial and mating rights raised eyebrows on Tuesday.

One of the two crocodiles is believed to have been killed in the fight that lasted about 20 minutes.

A fierce fight erupted between a giant crocodile and a relatively smaller one that had sneaked into the national park a few days ago from Baitarani river, unaware of the fact that the former rules the area. The entire blood-soaked incident was captured on OST camera.

Provoked by this unwanted intrusion into his territory during the ongoing mating season, the giant crocodile pounced on the smaller one near the Khola river bridge. The muddy waters near the bridge turned red within minutes of the onslaught.

After putting up a valiant fight for a few minutes, the reptile of lesser might was seen stuck in the jaws of the monster crocodile. The latter then went down to the river bed and emerged without the prey after a few minutes suggesting that he had killed the intruder and gave it a watery burial.