Crocodile Breeding Centre, Kurukshetra

Bhor Saidan Crocodile Breeding Centre
भौर सैदां मगरमच्छ प्रजनन केंद्र
Wildlife breeding
Bhor Saidan Crocodile Breeding Centre
Bhor Saidan Crocodile Breeding Centre

Location in Haryana, India

Coordinates: 29°57′43″N 76°41′49″E / 29.96194°N 76.69694°E / 29.96194; 76.69694Coordinates: 29°57′43″N 76°41′49″E / 29.96194°N 76.69694°E / 29.96194; 76.69694
Country  India
State Haryana
District Kurukshetra district
Founded by Mahant
Government
 • Type Government of Haryana
 • Body Forests Department, Haryana
Languages
 • Official Hindi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Website www.haryanaforest.gov.in

The Bhor Saidan Crocodile Breeding Centre (Hindi: भौर सैदां मगरमच्छ प्रजनन केंद्र) is located 22 km from Kurukshetra and 13 km from Thanesar at Bhor Saidan village (Hindi: भौर सैदां), also spelled as Bhour Saidan or Bhoor Saiydan, on the Kurukshetra-Pehowa road near Bhureeshwar Temple, one of the pilgrimage sites in Kurukshetra in the Indian state of Haryana.

Bhor Saidan village, sitting on an ancient archeological mound of Painted Grey Ware culture (1200 BCE to 600 BCE)) from the Vedic period of Mahabharata, is a tirth in 48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra on the banks of dried up river bed of Sarasvati River,[1][2][3] was named after Kaurava hero Bhurisrava of Mahabharta, son of Somadutta.[4]

History

The Mugger crocodiles are believed to have been brought by one of the Mahants of the nearby temples in the 1930s. In 1980, Forests Department, Haryana took over the breeding centre and the Bhor Saidan village panchayat gave 15+ acre land to the Government of Haryana to start the breeding centre.[5] Periphery has been fenced and a mound inside the pond was created to watch the crocodiles from the close range.[6]

Crocodiles At Bhor Saidan

Mugger crocodile

The centre comprises a wild pond that is used to rear Indian Mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus pallustris). The Crocodile Breeding Centre has 10 male, 4 female and 10 young Mugger crocodiles.[7]

Escape of Crocodiles

Around mid 1980s, several crocodiles escaped from the Bhor Saidan Crocodile Farm and nearby Saraswati drain and several villages have now become the habitat of escaped stray crocodiles that are caught from time to time in the nearby villages such as Mukimpura and Dabkoli.[8]

Crocodile adoption

In 2015, Forests Department, Haryana launched a scheme for individuals, organizataions and coporates to adopt animals in state's zoos and breeding centres, including at Bhor Saidan Crocodile Center.[9][10]

Issues

Since crocodiles have 100+ years life-span and breeding centre lacks infrastructure to cater for large population of crocodiles, overcrowding is a problem. As a result, caretakers have stopped the external intervention e.g. artificial incubation of the eggs. Though female crocodiles eat the weak youngs and this keeps the population under control.[11]

References

See also

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