A lone female Gharial has been spotted for more than three years in a stretch of the river within Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
About Gharial:
It is a freshwater crocodilebelonging to the Crocodylia Order and Crocodylidae Family.
Scientific Name: Gavialis gangeticus
Distribution:
Historically, the gharial's range spanned the rivers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
Today, only fragmented populations remainin Nepal and northern India.
Their major population occurs in three tributaries of the Ganga River: the Chambal and Girwa Rivers in India and the Rapti-Naryani River in Nepal.
The Gharial reserves of India are located in three States: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Features:
The gharial is one of the largest of all crocodilian species, with males reaching 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) in length. Females typically grow to lengths of 11.5 to 15 feet (3.5 to 4.5 meters).
They have thick skincovered with smooth epidermal scales that do not overlap.
The snout of the gharial is uniquely the thinnest and most elongated among all the crocodilians.
In addition, the adult males sport a large bulb at the tip of their snout, called the 'ghara'.
The teeth are more numerous than any other crocodylian species.
It is also the most aquatic of all crocodilians, for it never moves far from the water.
Because of their weak leg muscles, gharials are poorly equipped for locomotion on land.
Conservations Status: The global population of gharials has been reduced from 5000 in the 1940s to a few hundred individuals in the wild.
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