In news- The Mahanadi Wildlife Division in Odisha recently announced a cash reward of Rs 1,000 for rescuing gharials and informing wildlife personnel. The state forest department has launched an awareness drive to save the crocodiles in five districts: Boudh, Angul, Cuttack, Sonepur and Nayagarh.
- Gharials, also called gavials, are a type of Asian crocodilian distinguished by their long, thin snouts.
- They live in clear freshwater river systems, congregating at river bends where the water is deeper.
- They are not well-suited for land.
- Gharials regulate their body temperature by basking in the sun to warm up or resting in shade or water to cool down.
- Once found from Pakistan to Myanmar, the reptile’s range has shrunk to two countries – India and Nepal.
- In India, they are found in Girwa (Uttar Pradesh), Son (Madhya Pradesh), Ramganga (Uttarakhand), Gandak (Bihar), Chambal (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) and Mahanadi (Orissa) and along the Narayani River of Nepal.
- Male gharials sport a large growth on their snout called a ghara, the Hindi word for “mud pot“, which they use to vocalize and blow bubbles during mating displays.
- They are listed in schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and also described as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Their habitat is threatened because of human encroachment and fishing activities.
- Gharials do not stalk and lunge at prey like other crocodilians and their snouts contain sensory cells that can detect vibrations in the water.
- They are genetically weaker than salt water crocodiles and muggers.
- Protected areas of Gharial include- National Chambal Sanctuary – It is a tri-state protected area (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh) for the protection of the Gharial and also the Endangered Ganges river dolphin and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, UP.