Vidyanagar Nature Club launches Croc Watch app on World Crocodile Day

There is a significant population of crocodiles in the Charotar area of ​​Central Gujarat, where they also breed. Apart from crocodiles, other biodiversity is also found in the area especially among the birds there is a significant population of storkes. Charotar does not have a forest area, but farms, village lakes as well as canals provide habitat for such biodiversity.

The Vidyanagar Nature Club in Charotar has been working for the last eight years for the conservation of crocodiles. Many international researchers as well as wildlife film makers are working with VNC to understand this symbiosis between crocodiles and humans in detail.

On World Crocodile Day (June 17), a new step has been added to this project. An application called "Croc Watch" has been launched for this crocodile conservation project, which will collect data on the three crocodile species found in India, the crocodile, the gharial and the saltwater crocodile. Anyone from anywhere in the country can upload crocodile related data in this app. More information will be available from cw.vncindia.org portal. Such an app has been created by Vidhanagar Nature Club all over the country, said Dhaval Patel, Managing Trustee of the club.

The crocodile counting in Charotar was started by Vidyanagar Nature Club in the year 2013. The main purpose of which was to gather people from different fields to whom the importance of crocodiles and submerged areas could be explained. The event is to know the area of ​​crocodiles living in Charotar and their spread. Individuals participating in this event interact with the villagers living around the crocodile, which helps them in the conservation of crocodiles living in their area. This program takes place only in Charotar in the whole of Gujarat, which is reported to be used by people working on other wildlife as well as organisations.

According to the last crocodile census one each in Charotar, Khandali, Bhadkad, Devataj, Changa and Dali, 8 in Dabhoi, 88 in Dewa, 27 in Heranj, 3 in Laval, 21 in Malataj, 3 in Marala-Nagarama, 3 in Navagaam, 14 in Petli, 4 in Peej, 6 in Sojitra, 24 in Traj, one in Tranja Kothda and nine in Vaso which take to the total of 216 crocodiles, said Dhaval Patel, Managing Trustee of Nature Club.

From this calculation they know about how many crocodiles are there in which village, as well as how the people of that village live without conflict with crocodiles. Participants in the program come from different states, they also get knowledge about how crocodiles and humans live together, so they can also play their part in crocodile conservation. This calculation is reported to international organisations as well as the government. International experts have expressed that the work being done for crocodile conservation here is likely to inspire other countries.