Nepal: In a recent development, Conservationist from Zoological Society of London and Biodiversity Conservancy Nepal have discovered the first sucessful nesting and breeding site of Gharial crocodiles in Nepal since 1982. More than 100 hatchlings of the gharial were found in Bardia National Park, giving new hope to the conservation of the critically endangered species, stated the Nepalitimes.
Gharial’s were once found across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. It currently survives in several severely fragmented populations in India and Nepal. It has long, thin jaws which it uses to catch fish and males have a large, bulbous growth, known as a ‘ghara’, on the tip of their snout. Gharials are the only crocodiles with such an obvious difference between males and females. These large crocodiles were once widespread across the Indian subcontinent but are now restricted to as few as five severely fragmented and depleted populations across India and Nepal.
