Government official dedicates 18 years of his career for crocodile

Kathmandu - It is no surprise that a government official is working round the clock and most of the time in the forest and rivers for the cause of gigantic wild animal. Assistant Conservation Officer in Chitwan National Park Bed Bahadur Khadka is doing such a job for the cause of conservation for 18 years on. Khadka, who looks after the Crocodile Breeding Centre, spends almost 30 per cent of his night-time on the riverbanks to collect the eggs of crocodile.

He spends most of his time in and around the riverbanks in the spring season for eggs collection. Khadka worked for the Crocodile Breeding Centre until 2063 BS from 2057 BS and till now from 2066 BS. And, his sole assignment is dedicated to the crocodile breeding centre for collection of crocodile eggs, helping in orchestrating eggs in the best temperature and sending the crocodile babies in the rivers after a certain time.

In addition to the responsibility of the Crocodile Breeding Centre, he is leading the tortoise and vulture breeding centres. “My focus is about the job accomplishments. I rarely enjoy my vacations,” Khadka shared. Khadka, who spends more time to the endangered species than to his family, said that he visited his family members during this Dashain after a gap of 10 months. “I have slept on riverbank for 14 nights once,” he said while elaborating his jobs for eggs collection and studying the habits of crocodiles.

Currently, there are 500 plus crocodiles in the breeding centres. Interestingly, he has written journal articles in different international journals as well about crocodile. Khadka’s tenure for the civil service is completing in less than three months and this has been a concern for the stakeholders as who is coming to replace Khadka.