A cattle herder has died after being attacked by a Crocodile in the Bharuch District of Gujarat State, India, on Sunday 22 August 2021. Ramji Mansingh Rabari, 52, from the village of Limodara, was standing in the River Narmada, when he was attacked. A witness to the event who witnessed the event quickly summoned help from the nearby village of village of Ladwavad, but when villagers arrived with boats he had already bled to death.
There are three species of Crocodilians found in India, the Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, the Mugger Crocodile, Crocodylus palustris, and the Gharail, Gavialis gangeticus. Of these the Gharail is unlikely to be found in a waterway of this type, and is generally a Fish-eater, not prone to attacking Humans. Muggers are smaller that Saltwater and Nile Crocodiles, with males reaching about 3.5 m and females about 2.5 m, and are generally less considered less dangerous, as their preferred prey is animals smaller than Humans. However, as with other Crocodilians, the females can be highly aggressive during the summer, when they are nesting, leading to occasional Human fatalities.
Mugger Crocodiles were formerly found across South Asia from Iran to Myanmar and Nepal to Sri Lanka, but they are thought to be extinct in Myanmar, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, and the species is considered to be Vulnerable under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
Crocodiles were previously uncommon in Bharuch District, but their numbers have risen sharply in recent years, possibly due to altered water flows caused by the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. This rise in Crocodile numbers has brought the Animals into contact with Human populations that are not used to their presence, leading to a rising number of fatalities.
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