New Delhi: Nearly 70 years ago, the number of saltwater crocodiles in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was dwindling because of rampant hunting for their skin.
Today, the reptile has made a dramatic comeback, but the conservation success story has a flip side—increasing crocodile attacks.
Following the rise in attacks, government officials issued a hunting order last month that allowed authorities to kill the Schedule 1-protected reptile if human lives were at risk, sparking a battle between wildlife activists and the government.
Officials argue the move is necessary to protect human lives, while wildlife activists warn that the official order indicates the government is favouring tourism over biodiversity.
With limited resources to capture and relocate the massive reptiles, authorities and conservationists alike are now grappling with how to manage a growing man-animal conflict that has no easy solution.
“This is a grave ecological misjudgment,” said Gauri Maulekhi, trustee of People for Animals. “Crocodiles are merely the first targets in what appears to be a systematic clearing of indigenous wildlife to facilitate tourism development on the island.”
As the saltwater crocodile population in the Andaman island has grown to around 450 over the years, so has the number of tourists. At the same time, with the local population making inroads into crocodile habitats, the number of attacks has risen.
Local authorities say they created designated crocodile-free zones, but the efforts to keep crocodiles out proved futile. Capturing and translocating the animal also proved to be a challenge for forest department officials, who neither have the skills nor the equipment to contain the reptile.
The Office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) issued the order on behalf of the Chief Wildlife Warden in February after one crocodile was spotted in the free zone and efforts to capture or tranquilise it failed.
“Whenever there is a crocodile in the free zone, we must remove it. Either by capture or tranquilising, failing which by hunting,” said Sanjay Kumar Sinha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF).
“This is the first time an order has been issued to kill the animal,” he said.
According to Sinha, around 21 people have died in the Andamans on account of crocodile attacks since 2005.
Some conservationists believe the move was inevitable.
“Long ago, when croc numbers were very slim in the Andamans, authorities told us they would stop deforestation, start tourism and protect crocs,” said Romulus Whitaker, a wildlife conservationist and founder of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust.
“Now, it’s kind of biting back.”
Man-animal conflict
In the mid-1900s, crocodile numbers in the Andamans were declining steeply. Their eggs were eaten, their skin was sold and locals, who viewed the reptile as a nuisance, hired hunters to kill crocs.
Respite came with the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, which offered saltwater crocodiles the strictest protection under Schedule 1. Hunting of the animal became prohibited and punishable by law.
The Forest Department also stopped the cutting of mangroves in the late 1980s, improving forest cover and reversing habitat loss.
Whitaker remembered the saltwater crocodile surveys he conducted in the Andamans in the mid-1970s when he highlighted the low population numbers.
Although some crocodile killing as well as egg eating still prevails, he said, the new laws successfully instilled fear in local tradesmen and dealing in crocodile skin all but ceased.
According to Whitaker, certain areas in the Andamans have become crocodile hotspots where the crocodile population has surged significantly.
Sinha pegs the number of crocodiles on the island at 450 crocodiles, but Whitaker says the figure is severely underestimated.
In parallel, tourists visiting the Andamans have skyrocketed. Over 7 lakh tourists visited the islands in 2024, increasing at an average of 137 percent every year since 2021, according to the Andaman and Nicobar Tourism Department.
Viral news stories of crocodiles killing tourists have sparked anxiety, with people furiously checking online forums in search of advice on avoiding the reptile.
In April 2010, a 25-year-old woman from the US was killed by a saltwater crocodile while snorkelling—an incident that still raises concerns among tourists considering diving trips to the region.
But tour operators don’t think crocodiles are cause for concern since most tourists stay in crocodile-free zones such as the beaches of Swaraj Dweep, previously called Havelock Island.
“Most people we take on tour do not encounter any saltwater crocodiles,” said Awez Khan, the owner of Experience Andamans Tours. “The tourist areas are very safe since they’re mainly restricted to the beaches and not the inland creek areas.”
While tourists may be largely insulated from the threat, local communities are not. Fishermen, in particular, are at high risk, often forced to navigate crocodile-inhabited waters for their livelihoods.
“Community members know that there are crocs in the water but end up having to take part in risky activities such as fishing, using the creeks to wash utensils, clothes,” said Meera Oommen, Associate Director, Dakshin Foundation. “This is tied to fewer employment opportunities, lack of basic facilities, etc.”
When fishermen discard fish guts in open water, crocodiles are drawn to these areas in search of food. Over time, the reptiles associate human activity with easy meals—and sometimes mistake a foot or leg for prey.
“The crocodile thinks it’s easy to get food this way and comes back for more,” said Whitaker. “But this isn’t specific to just the crocodile. It’s the same with man-eating tigers and leopards.”
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Crocs can’t be contained
The saltwater crocodile is the largest reptile in the world, with males growing up to 6 metres and weighing between 1,000 kg and 1,500 kg. Capturing and translocating such a large water-based animal has always proved to be challenging.
But wildlife conservationists like Whitaker don’t see any point in even attempting translocation.
“Where are they going to translocate it to? Australia? China?” said Whitaker. “Because if they translocated it anywhere in the Andamans, the crocodile will just swim back to his own home territory.”
Saltwater crocodiles have strong homing abilities and can travel up to 400 km in 20 days to return to their original locations, according to a Dakshin Foundation research paper.
Even if translocation was a viable option, forest department officials need to capture them first. On an island characterised by mangrove creeks, freshwater rivers, swamps and the open sea—all areas where crocodiles are encountered—spotting an animal always on the move is no easy task.
“We need tranquiliser guns, equipment and a veterinary doctor on site. It’s a big problem to tranquilise animals,” said Sinha. “There are only two or three guns of this type on the entire island. They may be with a different division at the time when we require them.”
Implementing the hunting order comes with its own challenges.
As a Schedule 1 protected species, saltwater crocodiles are subject to many restrictions.
Only after the forest department can prove that all efforts to capture or tranquilise the animal have failed can the Chief Wildlife Warden authorise a hunting order under specific circumstances where human lives are at risk.
“We tried very hard to capture it but couldn’t do it. Now we have given the hunting order, but it’s been unsuccessful. Our teams are still over there, on the beach,” Sinha told ThePrint.
Solutions
The PCCF and his team are brainstorming ways to mitigate conflicts between humans and crocodiles.
But even killing the animal is proving to be challenging. Since the hunting order on 5 February, his team has not managed to hunt the reptile.
“We also don’t have the solution to this. We lack experience in killing crocodiles but are also learning,” said Sinha. “This was just discussed in a high-level meeting—but we have decided that at least in the free zones we should do this (kill crocodiles).”
Organisations like the Dakshin Foundation are working on understanding the conflict better, including recording attacks, preparing risk maps and modeling trends.
“On the specific request of local community representatives, we are planning modules to address conflict mitigation possibilities,” said Meera Oomen, adding that her foundation plans on engaging across stakeholder groups, including fishermen and children.
Animal welfare advocates like Gauri Maulekhi believe that the only solution lies in leaving crocodile habitats untouched.
“Crocodiles exhibit complex territorial behaviours that have evolved over millions of years,” said Maulekhi. “As apex predators they play a crucial role in maintaining aquatic ecosystem health and biodiversity. Preserving their natural habitats intact, with established buffer zones between human and wildlife areas, represents the most effective solution.”
Whitaker believes a mindset shift is required. In his view, India prioritises preservation over conservation, focusing on strict protection rather than sustainable management of its wildlife and natural resources.
He suggests borrowing from international models, such as crocodile farms in Australia, which have successfully managed similar human-wildlife conflicts while maintaining crocodile populations.
According to Whitaker, crocodiles breed well in captivity and if placed in a farm, could actually be considered livestock.
He also cites the example of Papua New Guinea which has a surplus of crocodiles.
“Papua New Guinea harvests about 30,000 crocodiles every year for their skin industry,” said Whitaker. “Most of the proceeds go to the local tribal people who have no other source of income.”
While the suggestion may be controversial for a conservationist who has spent decades working on increasing crocodile numbers, Whitaker clarified that he isn’t a proponent of killing crocodiles but doesn’t like seeing people killed either.
“It’s local people who live on the islands and tourists who are affected,” said Whitaker, in response to animal rights activists who are up in arms over the hunting order.
“Not wealthy people sitting in Delhi.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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People like Gauri Maulekhi are an abomination. Their hearts beat for all sorts of animals but not for human beings. People like these prioritize animal welfare over human welfare. Such residents are the reason why stray dogs hound, and at times kill, toddlers and children frequently in the cities and towns. Any attempt to cull stray dogs runs into opposition from idiots like Gauri Maulekhi.