Sundarbans Crocodile With Transmitters Found In Bagerhat Gher

A crocodile named Juliet with an installed transmitter was released into Bhadra River, Sundarbans on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Photo: Dhaka Tribune

A crocodile released with some satellite transmitters attached to its back has been found in a fish enclosure in Bagerhat’s Chitalmari Upazila.

After rescue, the reptile was handed over to the office of Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division in Khulna.

On Friday night, the crocodile was spotted at the fish enclosure owned by Hasan Sheikh of Dakshin Shailadah village under the upazila. As the news broke, locals in large numbers started thronging there. The crocodile was immediately rescued. 

Chitalmari police station Officer-in-Charge Ikram Hossain said that some of his colleagues were deployed at the scene to ensure that the crocodile faces no harm.

“We contacted the local office of the Forest Department. Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Officer Tanmay Acharjee took the crocodile to Khulna,” he said.

Khulna’s divisional forest officer (DFO), Nirmal Kumar Paul, confirmed the developments and said: “The crocodile was fine, and it will later be released deep inside the Sundarbans.”  

Aiming to know the life cycle of crocodiles, the Forest Department released two crocodiles with satellite transmitters in the Bhadra River of the Sundarbans on March 13.

Two weeks later, one of the reptiles was found in the Tushkhali River of Pirojpur’s Mathbaria Upazila.

The crocodiles named “Juliet” and “Madhu”, both three-meter long females, were collected from the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre in the Sundarbans and Jessore. Both the crocodiles are 35 years old.

In Asia, Bangladesh is the first country to release two crocodiles in the river by attaching satellite transmitters to learn about their movement, food habits, home range and abode, said Muhammad Nurul Karim, Divisional Forest Officer of Sundarbans East Zone.

The crocodiles were released with the financial support of German-based GIZ and the technical assistance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.