Pilpil, a crocodile at the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre in the Sundarbans, got 38 hatchlings on Monday, said forest officials. This is the first time that the authorities concerned of Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre get 100 per cent success in a hatchling procession. Azad Kabir, officer-in-charge of Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre of Sundarbans East zone, said a crocodile named ‘Pilpil’ laid 38 eggs and the eggs were kept in the digital incubator for hatching - and all 38 hatched baby crocs. It takes 82 days for hatching the croc babies and the authorities concerned of the wildlife center will look after these for 6-7 years and then release them to the rivers and canals of the Sundarbans. Read: Over 182 Barguna fishermen go missing in stormy Bay: Coast Guard So far, they have been able to release 206 crocodiles in rivers and canals of the Sundarbans. Sources said two crocodiles named ‘Juliet’ and ‘Pilpil’ laid 168 eggs from 2017 to 2019 but all failed to hatch. In 2020, four hatchlings were found in September. According to the Forest Department, the government built the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre in 2000 with five crocodiles from the Sundarbans.

Forest officials rescued a crocodile from a shrimp enclosure at Bururdanaga village in Mongla upazila of Bagerhat district on Tuesday. The 5-feet long crocodile is suspected to be seven years old and it came to the enclosure through crossing canals and rivers in the area, said Azad Kabir, in-charge of Karamjal Wild Animal Breeding Centre. Also read:Rescued crocodile released back in Sundarban river Akram Ali, an owner of the shrimp enclosure, informed the forest officials after finding the crocodile in his farm. Later, a team of forest officials rescued it and released it in the Sundarbans. So far, 206 crocodiles have been released in the canals and rivers of the Sundarbans and there are 92 crocodiles in the Karamjal breeding centre. Also read:Rescued crocodile released back into the wild in Sundarbans

The Forest Department on Tuesday rescued a saltwater crocodile from a pond in Rampal of Bagerhat and released it back into the wild in the Sundarbans.  Azad Kabir, an officer-in-charge of the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Center in the eastern part of the Sundarbans, said they rescued the crocodile from a pond in Srirambha village in Rampal after being informed through Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Habibun Nahar. The crocodile got there through the rivers and canals of the Sundarbans, he said, putting its age at 15 years. Later, the 10 feet long crocodile was released in a river of the Sundarbans in the morning, he added. READ: Rescued crocodile released back into the wild in Sundarbans Earlier on March 11, another saltwater crocodile was captured by fishermen while they were netting in the Bhaga area of Rampal and released in the Sundarbans. In this regard, Azad Kabir said the number of crocodiles in the rivers and canals of the Sundarbans is much higher now. “They roam in different rivers and canals of the forest and can go elsewhere while floating.” According to the Forest Department, 206 saltwater crocodiles, born at the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Center in the Sundarbans, have been released into the rivers and canals of the Sundarbans. At present there are 92 crocodiles of different ages in the center.

A crocodile, which has been named ‘Pilpil’, has laid 44 eggs at Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre in the Sundarbans.   Azad Kabir, in-charge of the breeding centre, said Pilpil laid eggs on the edge of a pond on Friday.   They kept 23 eggs in the incubator and the rest at the den of the crocodile for hatching those naturally as it takes 85-90 days to hatch the eggs, he said.   Earlier, crocodile ‘Juliet’ laid 54 eggs at the breeding centre on May 29.   Juliet and Pilpil laid 164 eggs in the last three years from 2017 to 2019 at the crocodile breeding centre but the authorities concerned failed to hatch those.   Mohammad Belayet Hossain, divisional forest officer of the Sundarbans East Zone, said there are 195 crocodiles at the breeding centre and of these, six are adults and 189 are aged between four and nine years.   Ninety-seven crocodiles, born at the breeding centre, have been released in different canals and rivers in the past.   The Crocodile Breeding Centre was set up in 2002 in Karamjal.