Wildlife personnel in Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha have spotted 60 nesting sites of estuarine crocodiles, officials said. The figure on the number of nests may increase as the counting process of estuarine nests will go on since the breeding season is not over. Last year, 57 nesting sites had been spotted. The nests were sighted by wildlife enumerators of the forest department along various nullahs, creeks and water-inlets in Bhitarkanika river system, an ideal habitat of saltwater crocodiles, they said. Crocodiles lay around 50 to 60 eggs which hatch after 70-80 days of incubation. Around 700 crocodile were hatched last year. They said due care has been taken this time by wildlife staff to ensure that these eggs are not devoured by predators like snakes, jackals and dogs, found in the reserve. Adequate conservation measures by the department has led to a systematic rise in the number of these reptiles over the years, claimed officials. The number of salt water crocodiles, the species which are not found in any other river system in Odisha, as per the latest census, is over 1,600.