Monitoring Mugger Crocodiles in Gujarat
Understanding the Human-Crocodile Conflicts, human tolerance and response towards crocodiles in Gujarat and the role of socio-cultural attributes in all these.
Mugger attacks have increased drastically in the last few years in Gujarat, thus intensifying the conflict and increasing negative attitudes among the local residents. Of the 42 mugger attacks reported in India in 2014, nearly 24 attacks occurred in Gujarat resulting in 12 human deaths, and the remaining severely injured/ permanently handicapped. Human Crocodile Conflicts (HCC) in Gujarat continues unabated, especially in Vadodara and Bharuch districts. The untrained wildlife/forest managers, while employing unifocal and ineffective treatments of the conflict, are unable to manage the conflict properly. This situation needs urgent attention. Therefore, this project attempts to understand the drivers of mugger attack in a multivariate framework using spatial tools, as well as provide training and guidelines to the people involved in HCC management. We, through a multi-approach strategy, aim to reduce this conflict through identifying conflict hotspots, modeling mugger habitat suitability and preparing conflict risk maps, understanding attitudes of the local people, providing training to the personnel’s involved in conflict mitigation and preparing a guideline for monitoring and conflict mitigation. This project will significantly contribute to resolving the conflict to a great extent.

Project Duration:
May 2015- Ongoing
Funding Agency:
Rufford Small Grant Program
Objective and Outcome
People Involved
Vidyanagar Nature Club is one of the most versatile grass root NGOs in India, working for the cause of environmental protection. It has been its mission to educate the masses and to spread awareness about the crucial need for environmental protection.
The organization has evolved with changing times, creating novel ways to communicate with society, thereby, shifting the attitude of thousands of people by environmentally sensitizing them.
Address:
101, Radha Darshan, B/H Union Bank of India, V.V. Nagar – 388120
Phone Number:
+91 98981 42170
Email:
[email protected]