Species in Nepal - Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)

Brought back from near extinction

The gharial is a peculiar crocodile. The long, very narrow snout gives the species a unique appearance. On top of this, an adult male sports a large bulb on top of the tip of his snout. The gharial spends most of its time submerged in water, but females lay their eggs on sandy riverbanks.

Once a female has found a place that pleases her, she digs a hole in the sand, deposits her eggs and covers them carefully with sand. After the eggs have stayed for 3 months in this reasonably even temperature, the young gharials break out of the eggs and emerge from their sandy cradle. 

Even though an adult gharial may be more than 3 metres long, the species is not interested in humans or other large mammals as prey. Unlike most other crocodiles that are happy to eat any warm-blooded species they can catch between their jaws, adult gharials usually stick to a diet of fish.

Occasionally some very large gharials are known to have caught mammals, too. Young gharials eat whatever they can catch with their miniature snouts: insects, frogs, and so on.

Close to extinction in the 1970s
The gharial is one of the most endangered crocodilian species in the world. Today, less than 2,000 gharials exist in the world, with a few hundred of them in Nepal. Gharials have been hunted, suffered heavily from river pollution and steep declines in fish populations. To top all that - their eggs have also been collected for medical use.

To help the gharial population grow, there is a breeding programme in Chitwan National Park. As the gharial is at its most vulnerable state at the beginning of its life - as an egg and as a little hatchling - newly laid eggs are collected from nest sites and brought to the breeding centre, where the young will be raised. When they are big enough to avoid most dangers in their natural habitat, they are released into the wild.