Oil spill takes toll on baby crocodiles
Oil spill from the sunken tanker in the Sundarbans has affected seven young saltwater crocodiles at Karamjal Wildlife Reproduction Centre.
The crocodiles, aged four months, got sick after drinking water polluted with oil, said environmental experts and wildlife sanctuary officials.
On Thursday, sores were spotted in the reptiles' mouths in two saltwater reservoirs at the reproduction centre on the Pashur River at Chandpai range of the forest.
The sanctuary staff couldn't change the water of the reservoirs in the last four days due to the oil slick in the river. Oil spread in the river after a tanker carrying 3.58 lakh litres of furnace oil had sunk in the Shela River on Tuesday. The oil has spread to around 34,000 hectares in three days.
Abdur Rab, forest ranger at the wildlife reproduction centre, yesterday said: “We changed the water of the reservoirs on Tuesday afternoon when tidal water reached the Pashur. There might have been some oil in the water.”
Usually, the water of the reservoirs is changed every day. But it has been stopped since Tuesday due to the oil spill in the river.
“The crocodile babies are eliminating their wastes in the reservoirs. If we can't change the water for a longer period, we will have to move the animals to somewhere else,” added Rab.
Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of the Sundarbans (east), said there are 255 saltwater crocodiles in 18 reservoirs of the country's only crocodile reproduction centre. They are aged between four and six months.
The Karamjal Wildlife Reproduction Centre was set up in 2002 on eight acres of land at a cost of Tk 32 lakh. The facility was developed under the Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation project.
The dolphin sanctuary lies in the rivers Shela and Pashur, covering an area stretching 31 sq-km along the Sundarbans. But no dolphins were seen jumping in the water on Wednesday and Thursday, said forest ranger Abdur Rab.
Wildlife experts have expressed grave concern over the fate of the rare Irrawaddy dolphins due to the impact of the pollution from the oil spill.
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