“Gharials Conservation” – Odisha Forest department Announces Cash Reward

What is the News?

The Mahanadi Wildlife Division in Odisha has announced a cash reward of Rs 1,000 for rescuing Gharials and informing wildlife personnel. The division will also provide compensation to fishermen whose fishing nets are destroyed by gharials.

About Gharials:

• Gharials are one of the longest of all living crocodilians. They derive their name from ghara, an Indian word for pot. It is named so because of a bulbous knob (narial excrescence) present at the end of their snout.
• Features: Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a fish-eating crocodile. It is also the only living crocodilian with visible sexual dimorphism.
• Indicator Species: They are also a crucial indicator of clean river water.
• Distribution:
  • Gharials were once abundant in the main rivers and tributaries of the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mahanadi-Brahmani river systems.
  • But they are now limited to only 14 widely spaced and restricted localities of India and Nepal.
  • In India, Gharials are present in Son River, Girwa River, the Ganges, Mahanadi River, and the Chambal River.
  • The Satkosia gorge in the Mahanadi is the southernmost limit of gharials.
• Protected areas: National Chambal Sanctuary and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
• IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
• Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
• CITES: Appendix I
• Threat: Construction of Dam, barrages, and water abstraction, entanglement in fishing nets, River bed cultivation, and sand mining.
• Initiatives: Indian government launched Project Crocodile with UNDP and FAO in 1975. It included an intensive captive rearing and breeding programme intended to revive the dwindling gharial population.

Crocodiles in India: India has three species of Crocodiles, namely:

1. Gharials (Gharials are genetically weaker than salt water crocodiles and muggers)
2. Mugger crocodile IUCN Status: Vulnerable
3. Saltwater crocodile IUCN Status: Least Concern.

Crocodiles in Odisha:

• Odisha is the only state in India having all three species of crocodiles (gharial, mugger and saltwater crocodiles).
• Odisha State Forest Department has begun conservation of these three crocodile species since 1975 by establishing three rearing centres
  • Tikarpada for gharials in Angul district,
  • Ramatirtha for muggers in Mayurbhanj, and
  • Bhitarkanika for saltwater crocodiles in Kendrapara district.

Source: Down To Earth