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Gharial

  • Native to India the once abundant family of Gharial inhabited all major river systems of the Indian Subcontinent, from the Irrawaddy River in the east to the Indus River in the west. Now since their population has been threatened they inhabit only 2% of their former habitat and are distributed throughout India and Nepal. It is now considered very likely that historical populations in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan and Myanmar are extirpated - crocodilian.com.

  • The Gharial have adapted to a more aquatic lifestyle unlike other crocodiles in its order, Gharial are more vulnerable out of the water as they are not well equipped for life out of the water. Measuring up to 6.25m long and weighing around 350lb, adults are not able to lift their bodies of the ground. As a result, they are found in calm areas of fast moving rivers, and journey up sandbanks that are mounded beside the river only to bask and nest.

  • Males have a bulge that grown on top of their nose termed - ghara - it grows with age and becomes more present in mature males. It has several functions attributed to it: a vocal resonator with which the gharial can produce a loud buzzing noise during social behaviour, a visual stimulus for females during courtship, and an aid to producing bubbles also during courtship - crocodilian.com.

  • As young Gharial are of a lighter weight than adults, they have the ability to eat small insects on land and vertebrates such as frogs. However adults are known to be exclusively fish eaters as their jaws and teeth are perfectly adapted to catch their prey under water. They are known to catch their prey by a fast lateral snatching motion, and have no problem killing it with their razor sharp interlocking teeth. Their jaws allow them to maneuver the fish into positions they require as they kill and swallow.

  • The Gharial is listed as an endanger species with less than 235 of its kind left. They have mainly been threatened by the loss of habitat, and fish recourses, as well as hunter’s fish nets.

  • Kingdom:Animalia

  • Phylum:Chordata

  • Class:Reptilia

  • Order:Crocodilia

  • Family:Gavialidae

  • Genus:Gavialis

  • Species:G. gangeticus

HUman Impact on Gharial

Described as “fish eating crocodiles” have seen many increasing fatalities in fishnets and are slowly quickly losing numbers. Found in scattered locations of India and Nepal this species has always loved fast flowing waters but have recently seen a decrease in the water flow and level. Extraction activities has been the blame for their suffering and they now face the fear of hydrological modifications. In 2007 - 2008 their species saw a mystery die off which has been linked to increasing pollution within their habitat. Not to mention that sand mining has become a large problem as they are now losing a large amount of area they once had to lay their eggs. Sand mining consists of the making large gaping holes - known as sand pits - which then allows various various minerals such as  rutile, ilmenite and zircon to be extracted. The problem now is that a lot of the mining is taking place closer and closer to their sandbanks. Multiple potions and environmental concerns have arisen as a result of the large struggle they are facing in their environment; little political action has taken stand to ensure their survival of their species - now in the hundreds.

 

 

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