Gharials | 05 Jul 2024

A lone female gharial in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, Assam has sparked hopes for the species' revival in the Brahmaputra River System (BRS).

The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is distinct from other crocodilians due to its long snout. It is thought to have disappeared from the BRS in the 1950s, with some reported sightings in the 1990s.
According to the Wildlife Institute of India, gharials were widely distributed in the Brahmaputra, Ganga, Indus, and the Mahanadi-Brahmani-Baitarani river systems of India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.
- Currently, their major populations occur in three tributaries of the Ganga (the Chambal and Girwa in India, and the Rapti-Narayani river in Nepal).
According to the IUCN’s Red List the Gharial is Critically Endangered due to construction projects and water extraction impacting its river ecosystems.