Context: The Odisha government has decided to compensate fishermen for the loss or damage of nets if gharials get entangled during fishing in the Mahanadi river. 

• For close to five decades, the Odisha government has been involved in the conservation of three crocodile species by establishing 3 rearing centres — Tikarpada for gharial in Angul, Ramatirtha for muggers in Mayurbhanj and Bhitarkanika for saltwater crocodile in Kendrapara district.
• Odisha is the only state in India having all three species of crocodiles (Gharial, mugger and saltwater crocodile) found in nature.
• There are three species of crocodilians—saltwater (least concern), Mugger (vulnerable) and Gharial (Critically Endangered)

Analysis

Saltwater crocodile

• It is the largest of all living reptiles.
• It listed as least concern by IUCN.
• It is found throughout the east coast of India.

• Unlike other crocodiles, estuarine crocodiles lay eggs by creating a mound made of leaves of a particular mangrove species, which are plentifully available in Bhitarkanika National Park (which is also the second largest mangrove ecosystem in India).
• Other crocodile species dig the soil for laying eggs.

Mugger

• Mugger Crocodile is a medium-sized crocodile, mainly a freshwater species only found throughout the Indian subcontinent.
• The mugger are ambush hunters that mostly inhabits freshwater lakes,rivers, marsh and swamps forest of India.
• The Mugger Crocodiles are the India’s most commonly seen river predators.

The Gharial

• It is the most uniquely evolved crocodilian in the world, a specialized, river-dwelling, fish-eater reptile.

• Habitat: Clean rivers with sand banks.
• Status: Listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and as Critically Endangered on IUCN Red List
• Distribution: Only viable population is in the National Chambal Sanctuary, spread across three states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in India.
• Small non-breeding populations exist in Son, Gandak, Hoogly and Ghagra rivers.
• Gharials, which were abundant in the main rivers and tributaries of the Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra and Mahanadi-Brahmani, are now limited to only 14 widely spaced and restricted locations in India and Nepal.
• Now extinct in Myanmar, Pakistan, Bhutan.
• Presently, the wild populations of gharials can only be found in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

National Chambal Sanctuary

• It is listed as an important bird area (IBA) and is a proposed Ramsar site.
• National Chambal Sanctuary supports the largest population of Gharials in the wild.
• National Chambal Sanctuary is the only known place where nesting of Indian Skimmers is recorded in large numbers (although a new breeding site was discovered in Odisha, India, in 2016).

Bhitarkanika National park

• It is a protected wetland under the Ramsar Convention.
• It is said to house 70% of India’s estuarine or saltwater crocodiles.
• The Bhitarkanika National Park is a place where the rivers Brahmani, Baitarni, Dhamra and Pathsala meet the Bay of Bengal.
• It hosts a large number of mangrove species and is the second-largest mangrove ecosystem in India.
• Gahirmatha Beach and Marine Sanctuary lie in this park.